


the price of peace

by TheQueenInTheNorth



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, F/M, there's violence but nothing i'd consider graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-08-25 03:45:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 26,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16653649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueenInTheNorth/pseuds/TheQueenInTheNorth
Summary: After generations of war, the kingdoms of Hala and Nux finally come to a peace agreement. To seal the treaty, Prince Kasius is to marry Princess Sinara.





	1. Chapter 1

Nux had been at war with Hala for generations, ever since they had risen up against the empire that kept them as slaves in all but name and freed themselves of their rule.

The Halan Empire, in turn, had done its best to regain control of the newly formed kingdom of Nux.

They had not been cowed into submission yet, and the Halans had not been prepared to wipe them all out and lose their resources with them, and so Hala and Nux lived in a constant stalemate of sorts, punctuated with frequent bursts of warring.

With the rise to more and more power of a third kingdom, Orid, they found themselves with a common enemy, and a cautious peace agreement.

* * *

“I have the envoy waiting for their answer,”Kel-Ra told his daughter, watching her pace before him, frown etched on her face.“You can say no, Sinara. The council is split on the decision near evenly, they have agreed that you should decide. Peace with Hala would be a respite, but we could keep fighting. We have held them off for generations.”

“And resources are dwindling,”the princess replied.“If we do not ally ourselves with them, they might seek to ally with Orid. They could destroy us.”

“A possibility, yes,”Kel-Ra allowed.“Yet Orid doesn’t appear to seek their favour.”

“So far.” She came to a halt, facing the king.“It would be best for the people. To finally put an end to this war. But do you think they really will uphold their side of the agreement?”

“It was Garron who reached out to start negotiations,”he reminded her.

Sinara snorted.“And Garron who offered his second born. Not the heir. The little brother.”

“The heir’s already betrothed to someone else.” Kel-Ra sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.“I don’t trust him either, Rara. But we can hardly demand the crown prince’s hand.”

“I’m not good enough for his heir, am I?” That was probably the Emperor’s reasoning. That, or that the Nuxians were generally beneath the Halans’ notice.“Not when I might never be queen myself.”

Their customs required her to defeat any challenger before she could take the throne herself. It was how her grandmother had become Queen of Nux in the first place, and a test her father had had to brave to keep the title when she’d died.

“You will be.” He reached out to cup her cheek.“And you will be fantastic.”

Sinara pressed her forehead against his briefly, heaving a deep sigh.“I’ll do it. Our people deserve the chance at peace.”

* * *

It did not bode well that Garron had summoned Kasius to take his dinner with him, not when Faulnak was not present. The talk of Nux did not set him at ease either.

“I still don’t see in what way they are a threat,”Kasius said. Nux had always wanted only freedom from the empire. They had never sought to attack it directly.“They always stay on their wretched little planet where they belong.”

“They’ve refined their military since the Blackstock family came into the crown. They may soon be capable of offensive warfare,”Garron said, his face twisting as if he had just bitten into something unspeakably unpleasant.“Should they ally themselves with Orid, it may be the end of Hala as we know it. As you know, I have offered Nux peace terms. They have accepted. But of course, the alliance must be sealed. I trust those filthy seceders about half as far as I can throw them. It seems the feeling is quite mutual.”

He took a moment to fill his glass again.“The wedding will take place in a fortnight.”

Kasius clenched his jaw to keep his face from betraying just what he thought of that idea.“You expect me to marry the Blackstock girl?”

Perhaps he should have seen this coming the moment Faulnak had been hastily engaged to Mala in the midst of negotiations with Nux, despite his father’s previous misgivings against her grandmother’s faction.

“Precisely. A marriage to unite our houses.” Garron took a sip of his wine, as calm as if they were discussing the weather.“And you can hardly expect that I would saddle my heir with the little barbarian princess, can you now?”

“No, I suppose not.” Kasius had always known he would have little to no say in the choosing of his future wife. This was a rather worse twist than he had mentally prepared himself for over the years.


	2. Chapter 2

The fortnight of wedding preparations passed by quicker than Kasius had anticipated. It seemed he had had no time at all to adjust to the idea of marrying the foreign princess when he was already standing in the hangar, awaiting her arrival.

He knew the people of Nux were warriors first and foremost, and so had taken care to dress rather more understated than he usually cared to. He would change before the evening’s banquet, of course, but there was hardly any point in putting off his betrothed by making the stark contrast brought about by Nux’s former subjugation any more obvious than need be.

His father and brother may have only thought of what the marriage would bring to the Empire. Kasius himself was determined to make it work as something beyond that; mayhaps not happiness, exactly, but at least not animosity. A sort of comfortable companionship, if all went well.

And so he stood next to his brother in his dress regimentals, those of a rank he had earned simply by being born as his father’s son. He had never seen battle, as Faulnak never tired of pointing out. But even he knew better than to start with that sort of thing now.

Things had to go smoothly with the delegation from Nux. As of yet, either King Kel-Ra or the Princess Sinara herself could still change their mind and back out of the agreement.

They had not been waiting long when the first Nuxian ship landed. Whether they had feared interference form Orid or betrayal from Hala, Kasius did not know, but he had to admit he would have chosen for the royal family to travel separately as well, had he been in their stead.

The congregation stepped out of their ship, walking down the ramp and towards the welcoming committee.

The princess was the first to disembark, flanked by two of her soldiers. The three were dressed almost identically, brown leather trousers and vests over deep red shirts, heavy boots with silver buckles to match those of the belts wound around their waists and hips. They could only be distinguished by their insignia, and the thin silver and ruby circlet adorning the princess.

Her long, black hair was pulled into a simple braid, thrown over her shoulder so it obscured half the Nuxian crest on her chest, the much smaller sigil of her house uncovered next to it. Her lips were painted a dark blue but otherwise she was wearing no makeup; she had made no attempt to conceal the curved scar running across the right side of her face, from her temple almost to her chin.

In spite of this, she was beautiful, if somewhat unrefined. She did not bother smiling when her eyes met his. Instead, she said something to the guard to her right, who smirked in return.

Faulnak chuckled at his side, leaning a little closer, the leer audible in his voice as he hissed,“Oh, she is going to _break_ you.”

Kasius did not deign to dignify that with an answer, instead stepping forward to greet his betrothed, doing his best to ignore that his heart beat just a little too fast.

“Your Excellency,”he said, using the honorific her people gave to their royal children as he offered his hand.“Welcome to Hala.”

It was hard to tell, but he thought he saw a hint of approval in her eyes at the address. Whether he had imagined it or not, she repaid the courtesy in kind as she replied,“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Her grip on his forearm was firm; he found himself wondering whether she thought his too weak. Her left hand was atop his on her own arm, thumb drawing a line from his wrist to the knuckle of his middle finger.

Kasius mirrored the gesture, taking note of the small difference for future use. In Halan custom, you simply rested your left hand on the other’s right.

There would be many more such instances, he was sure, of things that no one had thought of enough importance to mark down in the already laughably few documents he had found on Nux and their conventions.

“My father’s ship should arrive shortly,”Sinara said, letting go of Kasius’ arm. She inclined her head towards her guards in turn.“My personal guards and advisers, Azale of Learridge and Darillion of Aitonheed.”

The two gave polite nods, Darillion with a small smile, Azale still with the same smirk on her face Sinara’s earlier comment had produced. No doubt it hadn’t been flattering.

“My pleasure. ”Kasius forced himself not to dwell on the reason for Azale’s smirk as he introduced his own party. Then he asked,“Did you have a pleasant journey? Orid gave you no troubles, I hope?”

“All was well,”Sinara replied.“We shot down one of their armoured cruisers but saw no more of them after that.”

The arrival of King Kel-Ra’s ship put an end to any further smalltalk between the two of them. The man was clad in attire similar to his daughter, his own crown hardly more extravagant than Sinara’s.

“My father sends his apologies,”Faulnak said, as crown prince of course the first to greet the foreign king.“He has been kept longer by his advisers and will meet you at tonight’s feast.”

Sinara and Kel-Ra exchanged a covert look at the blatant lie.

Garron had decided to make it clear to the foreigners he acknowledged their claim to kingship only to the point he had to, a rather unnecessary aggression Kasius wished he had refrained from. The Nuxians could hardly miss the slight.

“A pity,”Kel-Ra said politely nonetheless.

“You must be weary from your journey,”Kasius cut in before Faulnak could emulate their father and add insult to injury.“If you would allow me to show you to your chambers, Your Excellency, Your Eminence?”


	3. Chapter 3

Kasius led them to their chambers himself, chattering away all the while. Luckily Kel-Ra gave most of the answers in the few moments he stopped to draw breath; Sinara was occupied with fighting down the urge to roll her eyes. She wasn’t much of a talker in the first place, forced smalltalk only made it worse.

The only thing she did say to him was a rather terse thanks when they made it to her quarters.

“Well, at least he’s handsome,”Darillion remarked as soon as the door was closed behind them and Sinara had dropped down on the sofa with a heavy sigh.

She scoffed.“If you have a thing for wimpy pretty boys.”

“You say that as if you don’t,”Azale teased, earning herself a glare.“Come now, Sin. Don’t lie to yourself.”

“He has ridiculously soft hands,”Sinara said rather than responding to Azale’s words.“I swear he has never done a day’s worth of actual labour in his entire life.”

“Of course he hasn’t,”Azale said, rolling her eyes.“You know what Halans are like.”

“Spoiled brats, the lot of them.” She looked around the room, scowl on her face.“Hardly a wonder, really. Just look at how they live.”

Even the common area of the guest chambers was decked out in more splendour than most of the palace on Nux.

“That’s what you get when you have no regard for your people,”Darillion said.“More wealth than you know what to do with.”

They had accepted enough refugees from across the Halan Empire into their kingdom to know nothing had changed since the days of Nux seceding.

“You’d think he could buy the ability to shut up with all that money.” She leaned down and undid her boots, kicking them off after.“How long until the dinner?”

“About four hours,”Azale answered.“Plenty of time to change your mind about the whole thing and run off.”

“Funny.” She wasn’t entirely sure if Azale was actually joking, but rather wouldn’t find out. The Learridge faction as a whole and Azale in particular had been vocal against the idea of her marriage to Prince Kasius. She decided to understand her words as jest, for better or for worse.“We should take advantage of Halan cuisine first at the very least, now that we’re here.”

“The one thing they get right, from what I hear,”Darillion said.

Azale grinned.“Well, even the longest winter has some sunshine.”

“May I remind you you both volunteered to accompany me?”Sinara said in mock-annoyance."Neither of you is being forced to be here."

“Like we could let you go through with this alone.” Azale rolled her eyes.“Also, how am I ever going to forgive myself if I don’t see you in a Halan wedding gown?”

There had been many discussions on just which customs from which kingdom would be part of the ceremony. In the end, many of the Halan traditions had won out simply because of their showy nature making the wedding more of an event.

Sinara rolled her eyes.“And there we have the reason you really came. To make fun of me.”

“Someone has to and Dar’s too nice.”

“I’m just here to stop the two of you from mocking her betrothed to his face,”Darillion put in mildly.“Don’t think I didn’t hear you earlier.”

“But he did look like a lost pup, Sinara was right. In that uniform when I’d bet anything he’s never seen battle.”

“Probably ready to faint if he chips a nail,”Sinara added. Kasius really was the furthest thing from a warrior they could’ve found for her to marry. She hated to admit that Azale had a bit of a point about that not being the worst thing to her.

If you spent your life on battlefields and in strategy meetings, all you wanted was a break at times.

There was a knock on the door then and a palace servant entered with their luggage on a cart. He gestured to the various chests and boxes.“Which should go to which room, ma’ams, sir?”

“Just set those down by the door and we’ll sort it out, thanks,”Sinara said.

The servant stared at her in wide-eyed wonder for a moment, then seemed to realise he hadn’t replied, flushing and stammering,“You’re very welcome, Your High- Your Excellency. Is there anything else you need?”

“That’ll be all,”Sinara said, and he left under much bowing.

She turned to her friends.“Did he just completely lose it over me thanking him?”

They both nodded, looks of both disgust and bemusement on their faces.

Sinara buried her face in her hands.“Halans are the worst.”


	4. Chapter 4

Sinara had been offered a handmaiden for the evening but had turned down the Halan’s offer. It was bad enough that she would require their servants the next night; the traditional wedding attire of Hala differed from Nux’s too much for her to be confident to get it right without help. They had attendants on Nux as well, of course, but here they felt more like slaves, with all the bowing and avoidance of eye contact.

“What do you think?”she asked, having put the finishing touches to her make-up and carefully adjusting the angle of her tiara.

“Pretty,”Azale said as she finished lacing her own bodice.“Shame to waste it on Garron and his lot, really. Is your dress really heavy, too?”

“Kind of.” Sinara fiddled with the buckle on her belt, a gemstone flower.“It’s all the unnecessary decorations.” She chewed on her lower lip, trying to decide between her desire for an answer and her fear of what her friend would say. In the end, she just burst out with the question.“Is this a mistake?”

“It’s a nice dress, don’t worry.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know that.”

“I know.” Azale sighed, arms crossed over her chest.“You know I think it is an outrageously stupid risk to take. But if they actually keep their word it’s certainly worth it. Just don’t trust any of them, alright?”

Sinara snorted.“As if I’d ever trust a Halan.”

“Not even if it’s a wimpy pretty boy?”Azale teased.

“Shush, Aza,”Sinara said, giving her a playful shove.“I’ve heard it’s bad luck to murder someone the day before your wedding.”

“Since when are you superstitious?”

“Are you arguing I should kill you?”

“I don’t even want to know what that’s about,”Darillion said, walking into the room just then.“It’s time to go. And remember to be at the very least civil, yes?”

“We’re not idiots,”Sinara said, at the same times as Azale said,“I promise nothing of the sort.”

 

Sinara entered the hall at her father’s side, her guards as well as his trailing closely behind.

“You look just like your mother,”Kel-Ra told her softly, a remark he made almost every time she wore her hair open.“But you could try to smile a little more than she did, dear.”

She chuckled but didn’t comply.“I’ll smile when we’ve gotten this whole farce over with and I can return to Nux.”

“You know it might be a while,”her father cautioned as the emperor and his sons rose to greet them.

“I know,”Sinara said. She left it at that, turning her attention to her betrothed instead, still listening to her father speak to his with half an ear. Garron was polite to a fault now.

Kasius was no longer in his uniform; she noted that his nails were painted to match the golden applications on his jacket as he pulled out her chair for her. He seemed much more comfortable than he had in the hangar earlier.

“You look nice,”she told him as she took a seat. Darillion had had a point; she might as well make this as easy on the both of them as possible and try to get on good terms.“I like the embroidery.”

He touched the fabric absentmindedly, a slight hint of colour rising in his cheeks.“Thank you. You look very beautiful yourself.”

She felt ridiculously dressed up but supposed it was just about appropriate for court by the standards of Hala. The dress’ plunging neckline didn’t bother her but the silver mesh over the relatively simple grey fabric took a lot of getting used to; it was almost as heavy as battle armour and somehow more unwieldy. She was not looking forward to the gown she’d have to wear the next day. Of course, she said nothing of the sort.“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Please, call me Kasius.”

She supposed she would have to start sooner or later anyway. She nodded.“If you’ll call me Sinara, then.”

“Delighted to, Sinara,”he said, smiling at her brightly.

“I’m going to puke if you keep that up through dinner,”Azale remarked drily.

An awkward silence fell over their part of the banquet table, then Darillion let out a laugh a little too shrill to be convincing.“Stop it, Azale. His Highness doesn’t know you’re joking.”

Sinara was almost certain Kasius did not believe this for a second, but he had the good grace to laugh the matter off. She kicked Azale under the table as hard as she could without it drawing attention, earning herself nothing but a rather petulant glare in return.


	5. Chapter 5

Kasius was relieved they had made it through the dinner without Garron or Faulnak direly offending the Blackstocks or their entourage, yet at the same time disappointed with how little Sinara had spoken all evening.

He was very much second-guessing his decision to give her the gift he’d gotten for her, despite the fact that he’d felt the idea was brilliant earlier. By the time he managed to summon the confidence to do it after all, Sinara had already said her goodbyes and retired for the night.

She was out of the dining hall and a few yards down the hall when Kasius caught up with her.“Sinara, may I have a word in private?”

She threw him a look that clearly said she would have declined had propriety allowed it, then waved off her guards. Once they had turned to leave, she looked at Kasius expectantly.“Yes?”

Her tone was rather icy. He tried his best to convince himself that that was just what she always sounded like. She hadn’t said a lot throughout the evening, after all, so it was rather hard to tell.

“I have something for you,”he said, not letting her frown nor his nerves deter him.

He pulled the box from his pocket and held it out to her.“May you never need it.”

She took it after only a moment of hesitation.

“Thank you,”she said, and showed not the slightest inclination to open it.“I’ll see you tomorrow, then, I suppose.”

“Yes, I suppose so.” He hadn’t really thought about what reaction he had expected from her. Had he spent a moment to think on it, this wouldn’t have been it.“Sleep well, Sinara.”

“You, too.”

And with that she left him standing there, wondering just how much of a fool he had made of himself.

* * *

 

Darillion and Azale had retired to their respective rooms to change out of the formal clothes and so Sinara was left alone to ponder the gift her betrothed had given her.

She thought about just throwing it out unopened. If she didn't know what it was, she wouldn't have to try to figure out what it meant, at least. Yet curiosity got the better of her.

The box was dark, polished wood with a golden clasp. She opened it to find the inside lined with red velvet, not that her attention was on that for very long.

Now Kasius’ words when he had given her the gift made much more sense, though she wondered how he had known to say them.

She carefully took the dagger out of the box, weighing it in her hand, testing the sharpness against the pad of her thumb. It was a well-crafted piece, perfectly balanced. The hilt was silver and black, an intricate handguard curving from it elegantly, a sapphire set into the base.

It lay in her hand as if made just for her.

She chastised herself for the idiotic thought. It was good craftsmanship. Of course it had a good grip.

“What do you have there?”Darillion wanted to know, returning from his room to the common area of the chambers.

She held the dagger out for him to see.“Kasius gave this to me.”

“Oh.” He waited for her to say more but she didn’t.“Well, Aza will want to hear this, too.”

He crossed over to her room, returning with his fellow guard moments later.

“He gave you a dagger?”Azale asked, frown etched onto her face.“Do you think that was a coincident? I mean, it might just be a dagger.”

“He said ‘May you never need it’, Aza.” She would be the first to believe there was no meaning to this, but it was a stretch to assume he had just somehow said the right words with the right present.“It’s a courting gift.”

Betrothal on Nux was different than it was on Hala. A dagger was what you gifted someone to declare your intentions to court them formally, a promise that you would be by their side through every hardship from that day on, if you could not prevent those hardships before they hit.

Azale scowled.“It’s not a tradition here, is it?”

“No, it’s not,”Darillion replied, though all three of them already knew it.

They had all spent most of the voyage here reading up on Halan traditions to prevent making fools of themselves.

“He must have learned about ours, then,”Sinara said. She placed the dagger back into its box, fingertips lingering against the metal for a moment before she closed the lid.

“That’s sweet of him,”Darillion offered uncertainly.

“Or calculating,”Azale added.

Sinara gave a non-committal hum in reply, still staring down at the box. Whatever Kasius’ motives, this union was already more confusing than she had bargained for, and they were not even wedded yet.

“I’ll go sleep,”she said, getting up and taking the box with her.“So should you. We have a long day ahead tomorrow.”

But it was a long time until sleep finally found Sinara, tossing and turning in the bed on this foreign planet, trying to make sense of the man that she hadn’t known by this time the day before, that would be her husband by this time tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

“Stop pacing, it’s giving me a headache.”

Kasius stopped in his tracks only long enough to shoot a glare at his friend.“No one asked you to be here, Cliostreia.”

“I know,”she said, refilling her glass.“But you need moral support. You’re clearly stressed. I mean, you’re fullnaming me. That’s never good.”

“How is it moral support for you to drink all of my wine?”

Clio shrugged.“If I drink it, you can’t and then you won’t show up at the ceremony drunk.”

“How thoughtful.”

“You’re welcome.” She reached out and put a hand on his arm, halting his pacing.“But seriously, Kasius. How are you holding up?”

“I don’t know,”he replied truthfully.“I don’t think she particularly likes me.”

“Well, liking your spouse is a very lower class idea, isn’t it?”Clio mused, then pulled an apologetic grimace at the look on his face.“Sorry. What I meant was that it’s really too early for such talk. You barely know her yet.” She handed him her half empty glass.“Did she like the dagger?”

Clio was the one person to never have mocked him for his romantic notions. As much as she’d never admit it, she shared most of them, having gone as far as antagonising Faulnak to the point of making their engagement impossible in spite of her perfectly appropriate family simply because she couldn’t see herself ever loving him. An assessment of his brother’s character that had only made Kasius like Clio more.

“She didn’t even open the gift,”Kasius said, trying his best to ignore how much he sounded like a cranky toddler when he said it. He took a sip of the wine.“She didn’t even open it, Clio.”

She thought about that for a moment.“Do they open gifts in front of the gift giver on Nux? They don’t over on Cariv.”

“You’re trying to calm me down.”

“Is it working?”

“Maybe a little.” He looked at his reflection, turning his head this way and that for the shimmering gold powders dusted across his face to catch the light. There really was no use in dwelling on things he could not change, so he forced himself to put his focus elsewhere.“Should I change my hair or is this working?”

“And he’s back,”Clio muttered under her breath, stepping up next to him to take a closer look at his hair.

 

Strangely, Kasius felt considerably calmer by the time he made it to the great hall for the ceremony.

It didn’t last long, however. He was waiting for the moment to enter with his party when Faulnak arrived and destroyed his peace of mind with three simple words.“Think she’ll show?”

“Very funny, Faulnak,”Kasius said, forcing himself not to show any reaction. He had considered the option that Sinara may absolutely loathe him. It had never occurred to him that she might change her mind completely and not show up to their wedding.“Do save some material for what will no doubt be a horribly inappropriate toast.”

He suppressed a grimace at the thought. One of the most annoying things of being the second born was the expectation that his brother would be involved in every even semi-important aspect of his life. And his wedding undoubtedly qualified as important.

“I do love a good toast,”a voice behind them said.

They turned to find the last member missing from the groom’s party.

“Lord Aitonheed,”Kasius greeted. Nuxian tradition demanded a member of both the bride and groom’s side to join the other’s party. Kasius had asked Clio to do the honours, prefering to keep Faulnak as far away from Sinara and her family as in any way possible.

Darillion inclined his head in turn.“Your Highness. I hope I haven’t kept you waiting?”

“We’re right on schedule,”a nearby servant supplied at Kasius’ questioning glance.

He smiled at Darillion.“Is Sinara ready, then?”

 

The heavy wooden doors opened before them and Kasius stepped into the hall. Across from him on the other side of the hall, Sinara did the same. Had he married a fellow Halan, he would be waiting for her by the ceremonial shrine on the dais in the middle of the room already.

This way, he matched the speed of his steps to hers, breath caught in his throat as they came closer and closer.

Sinara was stunningly beautiful, her hair woven into braids reminiscent of a crown, the wide, purple skirt swaying with her every step, a golden powder dappled across the fabric just like her cheeks and forehead. The golden bodice had a pattern so intricate it must have taken the dressmaker weeks to complete. He knew the dress was off-the-shoulder, but as of yet she was still wearing a cape of purple lace so fine it might as well have been made of air.

No matter what Garron or anyone else said of the Nuxian royals, she looked every bit what a queen should be in that moment.

“Hello,”he said quietly as they came to a stillstand in front of one another. It was perhaps a little odd but felt better than saying nothing at all.

She still didn’t smile but her eyes seemed warmer than the day before.“Hello.”


	7. Chapter 7

Once they had made it to the dais, Sinara hardly listened to the master of ceremonies drone on and on about nothing at all. On Nux, weddings were quick affairs. If anyone said a few words at all, it was whomever the couple had picked for it. All you really needed was two people to act as witnesses to the marking - a marking that was far different from Hala’s to boot.

She only really tuned into the proceedings again when Cliostreia moved to unclasp her cape as Darillion did the same for Kasius.

The neckline of his ceremonial garb was scooped low enough to expose his collarbones, offering easy access to the spot where his shoulder met his throat.

Nux had done away with the tradition decades ago. Sinara had not known a single living person to baer the bite mark in her entire life. It reeked of claiming the other as your property, rather than joining together as equals.

It had been topic of heated discussion during negotiations but ultimately it had been decided that both traditions would be upheld. Sinara didn’t care all too much. What was one more scar, really?

The master of ceremonies prompted her forward with a look; she was supposed to mark Kasius before he marked her.

She stepped closer, one hand placed lightly on his waist as she brought her mouth against his flesh. He flinched when she broke the skin, though she had to grant him that it was light enough that she ought to be the only one who had noticed. Perhaps he wasn't that much of a wimp after all.

She pulled away again, wiping away a drop of blood with her thumb, though she wasn’t entirely sure she was allowed to do so. Kasius looked rather surprised by the gesture, colour once again rising in his cheeks.

Before she could make a mess of things, she reminded herself of the words she was supposed to recite. She had practiced them until she'd finally managed to get them out without the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes.

“With this mark, I vow to share my life with you,”she said, dipping her fingers into the golden powder the master of ceremonies offered, brushing it across the upper arc of the mark her teeth had left.“I swear to hold you precious above all the treasures of this universe.” She reached for the purple powder, now coating the other arch in colour.“I pledge my love, devotion, faith and honour as I join my life to yours. For I am yours, as you are mine.”

Once she was done Kasius leaned in to mark her in turn; his hand rested on her hip and stayed there even as he spoke his vows and applied the powders. Hearing those vows spoken to her by a virtual stranger was somehow even more ridiculous than saying them to him. She wondered if Kasius, too, had to fight down the need to laugh at the sheer idiocy of romantic vows in a political marriage.

If that was the case, he hid it well, finishing the vows without faltering. Then he stepped back again, accepting the dagger the master of ceremonies handed him.

He hesitated for the fraction of a second before dragging the blade across his palm, wincing as it split the skin from his wrist to his middle finger, then handing the dagger to Sinara.

She followed suit and they clasped hands; she could tell his hand truly was just as soft as she had thought the day before, despite the blood mixing between their palms.

The master of ceremonies draped the traditional long, thin purple-and-gold cloth over their hands, and Cliostreia and Darillion stepped to either side of them, facing each other. Cliostreia was careful to mirror Darillion exactly, unfamiliar as she was with the Nuxian practice of handfasting.

Darillion was the first to speak.“Kasius, will you share Sinara’s pain and seek to soften it?”

“I will,”Kasius answered before Cliostreia posed the same question to Sinara.

Then the two witnesses wrapped the cloth around their hands once before moving onto the next questions, adding another layer of cloth at each set of “I will”s.

“Will you take the fire of anger and use it to temper the strength of this union?”

“Will you fight by his side always?”

“Will you bring her nothing but honour?”

“Will you hold this union dear above all else?”

On and on, until their hands were completely wrapped up and Cliostreia and Darillion stepped aside, turning to face the assembled guests.

“By my honour, I bless this union,”they said as one.

“By my honour, nothing shall break it,”Kasius and Sinara intoned, still facing one another.

Then the master of ceremonies spoke once more.“By the rights bestowed upon me, I declare you husband and wife.”

Only then did the reality of the situation truly hit Sinara. She was married. To a _Halan_.

The things she did for her people...


	8. Chapter 8

They were dancing in the middle of the celebration location in the atrium and even with dozens and dozens of couples around them by now Sinara could still feel disapproving eyes bore into her back. Half the court held it against her that she had snagged the prince, it seemed, no matter that she hadn’t exactly wanted this. The other half was simply judging her for her sake.

“Is everyone here disturbed by scars?”Sinara asked after a while of them dancing in silence. Kasius had made a few attempts at smalltalk before but given up shortly. She jerked her head towards a particularly sour looking woman.“Because she seems to have quite the problem with them.”

She was hovering near the curtained-off pavilion as if her presence there might deter them from the eventual consummation expected of them before the night was out.

Kasius followed her indication.“Oh. That’s Isana. She’s generally a bit of a judgmental bitch, to tell you the truth.” He smiled at her.“Though I’d be interested to hear how you got some of these scars myself.”

His hand moved from her hip to trail a scar along her shoulder for a moment.“If you don’t mind me asking, of course. This one’s an odd shape.”

She tilted her head to the side, looking up at him with a slight smirk.“Do you really want to hear me talking about killing your father’s soldiers?”

“If you put it like that, not particularly,”he admitted with a rueful smile.“But I feel like there’s not a lot of things I can get you to talk about.”

Her smirk only became more pronounced at that.“You’ve got the right of that, husband.”

She said no more than that.

 

Sinara had thawed a little over the feasting, here and there even offering up tidbits of her childhood when a particular dish reminded her of her mother or some other family member. Even though she was still rather tight-lipped, Kasius found himself enjoying his new wife’s company.

That was, of course, until Faulnak decided it was time for his toast.

“I am so sorry for whatever it is that’s about to come out of his mouth,”Kasius muttered to Sinara as the whole hall turned its attention to the crown prince.

As expected, everything he said was in some way or other offensive if you looked at it for longer than half a second.

Clio caught Kasius' eye across the table, looking as resigned to Faulnak's nonsense as he himself felt. Kel-Ra's face was frozen into a polite smile that didn't touch his eyes, seemingly stuck between horrified and incredulous. When Kasius dared glance at Sinara, he was surprised to find her rather amused. It did not take him long to realise that had little to do with Faulnak and a lot to do with Azale's irate expression and Darillion subtly removing all knives from within her reach.

Faulnak was either oblivious to all this or - more likely, Kasius thought - simply did not care.

He finally ended his speech with an especially crude comment and a gesture towards the pavilion at the end of the marble walkway leading off of the dancefloor.

“You know what they say.” Faulnak’s smirk was somehow even more obnoxious than it usually already was.“You’re not truly wedded until you are bedded.”

“Again, I’m sorry for him,”Kasius said, not entirely certain Sinara could hear him over the wolf whistles of the crowd around them.

She simply rolled her eyes, getting up and taking his hand to lead him into the pavilion.

 

“Well, let’s get this over with,”Sinara said, letting go of his hand  the moment the curtain had fallen back into place behind them.

“Get it over with?”Kasius echoed, shooting her a look somewhere between amusement and disbelief.“Don’t you know how to set the mood...”

She smiled, then, genuinely, the first time he had seen her do so. And he realised he had been wrong about her being beautiful. She was radiant, and no words would do her justice.

“You’ll have to excuse my lacking sense of romance,”she said.“You married the wrong woman for that.”

Kasius chuckled.“Understood. But if you were hoping for someone who cares nothing for sentiment, I’m afraid you married the wrong man.”

“This hardly has anything to do with sentiment. We need it to be legally binding,”Sinara reminded him. She hadn’t expected that she would need to convince her new husband of consummating the union. He’d seemed eager enough until now.“You heard your brother. No bedding, no wedding.”

“Oh, do refrain from mentioning Faulnak, please.” He grimaced.“It’s doing nothing to make this situation any less disagreeable.”

“Disagreeable.” She smirked.“Now there’s what a girl wants to hear on her wedding night.”

“You know how I meant it.”

Sinara shrugged.“Maybe so. That does not change that it needs to be done. Elsewise the marriage can be set aside at any time.”

“Well, I can promise you that I will do no such thing. You’re stuck with me, I’m afraid. Nothing shall break this union and all that." His smile wavered slightly."Unless you’re planning on asking for an annulment?”

“I am not,”she replied.

“But you don’t trust me not to,”he said with a sigh.“Understandable, given Hala’s history with Nux. But you do see that I have nothing to lose as your husband, yes? My father’s title and holdings will go to my brother. The best I can be without you is a prince.”

“You won’t be king consort unless I am queen,”Sinara gave back.“I might not be.”

“In which case I’d be a widower and free to marry someone else.”

“You’ve thought about this.” She smirked.“I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be impressed or annoyed.”

“A feeling I often evoke. Get used to it, wife.”

“Wife?” She reached out to lightly brush her fingers against the union mark on his throat, hand then settling at the nape of his neck.“Not yet, Kasius, not properly.”

He had made good points but she was not about to trust the word of a Halan. And she was rather curious to see what he could do with those soft hands of his.

Maybe she could even get him to blush again.

She closed the distance between them and pulled his face down to hers, kissing him. It was slow at first, half a question in the press of her lips against his, a question he answered all too happily with his hands coming up to her hips, pulling her closer.

When she finally made to move away his mouth chased after hers, unwilling to break the kiss. She chuckled against his lips at that, then pulling back far enough to look him in the eyes, a teasing smile curving her lips.“So are you done being disagreeable now?”

“I am,”he said, a gruffness to his voice that hadn’t been there before.

She liked that even better than the blushing, Sinara decided as she kissed him again.


	9. Chapter 9

They saw King Kel-Ra and his delegation off the very next morning.

Kasius waited off to the side while Sinara said her goodbyes to her father; they stood in silence for some time, their foreheads pressed together, Kel-Ra’s hand resting on the back of Sinara’s neck and hers on his. Though Kasius knew it was a common gesture on Nux, he still felt like he was intruding on a private moment. He could not remember his own father ever so much as hugging him, not even when he had been very young.

When they moved apart, Kel-Ra turned to Kasius, offering his hand.“I look forward to you coming to Nux soon.”

“So do I,”Kasius returned.

Once Kel-Ra’s ship had departed, Sinara looked to Kasius expectantly.“Now what?”

“I could show you around the palace, if you’d like?”

“Sounds good,”Sinara said.“Does that offer extend to Azale and Darillion as well?”

“Of course. I also thought of inviting someone else along, actually, if that’s alright? Give a little more insight on the history. I’m not that well-versed with architecture myself.”

In truth he simply needed someone to occasionally remind him to shut up. He knew he could be a bit much at times, but had trouble telling just when it was the case.

“That’s fine,”Sinara said. Then she frowned, hesitating for a moment before asking,“It’s not your brother, though, is it?”

Kasius grimaced.“No, not him. It’s Clio.”

“Good,”she said, then caught herself.“I mean -”

He laughed at that.“Don’t worry, I agree.”

Mutual dislike of his brother wasn’t the best basis for a relationship, perhaps, but it was at the very least a start.

 

A few hours later, they had covered most of what was of interest in the palace.They had even gone for an extended stroll through the gardens, the vegetation on Hala different enough from Nux to make it interesting, and had taken their lunch outside as it was such a lovely day.

Just when Kasius had felt he was out of places to show the Nuxians, Sinara had requested to see the training facilities for the palace guards. He had hastily agreed, internally chastising himself for not thinking of it. Of course a warrior people would find that much more interesting than the growth rate of different plants.

The trio was impressed with the grounds and equipment, especially taken with the climbing wall hewn directly into the rock parts of the palace had been built into.

“Can we go climb that or is it just for your soldiers?”Sinara asked, running her hand across the stone and inspecting the holds.

“Of course you can climb it. You can do anything you want here, really.” Kasius turned to wave over a nearby servant.“He’ll fetch you the safety harnesses, it’ll only be a moment and then you -”

He suddenly realised he was talking to thin air, Sinara already having started up the climbing wall, both her advisers following suit.

Perhaps he should have been worried they might fall and injure themselves, Kasius mused, but it was awfully hard to focus on anything besides the way Sinara’s muscles moved as she pulled herself further and further up.

He took a few steps back, joining Clio at the edge of the mats. They stood there in silence for a while, simply watching the others climb.

“So,”Clio started eventually, not turning her gaze away from the climbing wall for a moment.“What’s Azale’s deal?”

“Pardon?”

“Azale. Is she seeing anyone?”

Kasius tore himself away from watching Sinara to look at Clio instead.“Is that an actual, serious question?”

She shrugged, a smirk playing at the corners of her lips.“She’s quite attractive.”

Kasius rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the wall. Darillion had made it almost to the top already, leaving Sinara and Azale a few feet behind as they seemed more interested in making each other almost fall than actually climbing.“Well, unfortunately, in the entire twenty hours of our marriage, we somehow failed to discuss if any of Sinara’s advisers are available for you to pounce on.”

“So what you’re saying is I should just go ahead and see what happens?”

“You do that,”Kasius said. The three on the wall had now started their way back down.“And I hope it goes terribly because you let me talk about flowers for almost a quarter of an hour earlier. I brought you to stop me from annoying Sinara, not to lust over her friends.”

Clio shrugged.“She didn’t seem annoyed. You made some interesting points about invasive species.”

“Remind me why I’m friends with you again?”

“Because I’m not kidding when I say your plant nonsense is interesting.” She brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face, tongue darting out to wet her lips as the trio finished their descend and walked over to them.“And now laugh so Azale will think I said something funny.”

 

They had ended up in a club somehow; Sinara wasn’t exactly sure how anymore. It was the one thing so far that really didn’t differ that much from Nux. The music was similar, pounding so loudly she felt it in her veins, the drinks were the same, if maybe a little sweeter. The Halans held their liquor well, yet did not seem to care for the taste of it.

She in turn did not particularly care for the friends Kasius had brought along. Or, well, rather hadn’t outright sent away when they had run into them on their way here.

Lysandre complained about everything and anything she could think of in a tone so shrill it carried over the music, Akedus wasn’t happy that Clio’s attention wasn’t on him, and Isana wore the same judgemental expression she’d had at the wedding every time she glanced in Sinara’s direction.

Since Isana seemed insistent on following Kasius at every step, Sinara excused herself to head to the dancefloor with her friends instead. Had it not been for Clio’s presence, she could have easily pretended to be back home on Nux.

“I’m going to get some air,”she eventually told Darillion, exchanging hasty goodbyes with Clio and Azale on her way to the atrium and their way to the door.

She hadn’t even noticed Kasius had beat her to going outside until she heard his voice, sounding vaguely irritated. “What exactly is your problem?”

“I just don’t understand how you could actually marry that filthy little barbarian,”Isana sniffed.

Before Kasius had a chance to respond, Sinara stepped around the corner.“Well, you see, we barbarians have this little thing we call marriage alliances. You might have heard of it?”

Isana had the decency to blush, at least.“I meant no offense -”

“Yes, you did. You just didn’t mean for me to hear it,”Sinara said mildly. Then she turned to Kasius as if Isana was no longer even there.“Clio said to tell you we’re invited to Ria’s tomorrow. Then she took off with Aza. I’d like to go now, too.”

“But we only just got here,”Isana protested.

“You can stay,”Kasius said, smile not reaching his eyes.“My wife wants to leave, so that’s what we’ll be doing. Goodnight, Isana.”

 

“Are we walking back to the palace?”Sinara asked once they’d made it outside. Her ears were ringing from the music, and the effects of the cocktails hit her the moment the cool night air did.

Kasius looked up and down the nearly deserted street.“I could organise a carriage, if you give me a moment.”

“No, that’s okay.” The way here hadn’t been all that long.“I’d like to walk. I need the air.”

Kasius nodded his assent, starting down the road.“It was ridiculously smoky in there, wasn’t it? And the humidity.”

“Terrible.” She didn't feel the need to admit that he could apparently easily outdrink her. Instead, she tucked her hand into the crook of his arm to make sure she'd walk in a straight line.“Lead the way, then, husband.”


	10. Chapter 10

Kasius awoke to the morning light filtering through the window; the blinds had apparently not been properly closed in the evening.

When he sat up, he found that he was wrong in that assumption. Sinara had opened them, standing by the window and looking out, taking occasional sips from the mug she was holding.

“Good morning,”he said.“Have you been up long?”

She turned briefly to give him a smile.“Morning. I wanted to see the sunrise. It’s much redder than ours on Nux. It’s lovely.”

So was the sight of her in her nightshirt, hip leaning against the windowsill, her hair a loose tumble down her back. There was something oddly domestic to the moment. Kasius wanted to go over and wrap his arms around her waist to watch the sunrise with her but he didn’t dare disturb that moment by being too presumptuous.

She was his wife, yes, but not by either of their choice. She was as like as not to push him away or grow wroth with him for such a gesture.

“So do you actually want to go to Ria’s today or should I make some excuse?”he asked as he got up and turned towards his closet rather than to join her at the window.

“Which one’s Ria again?”Sinara wanted to know.“And what exactly are we doing at hers?”

“You talked to her at our wedding for a bit. The one who said she didn’t know why Nuxians liked scars so much but they suited you?” He grimaced at the memory.“She can be a bit dim at times but she means well, really.”

“Oh, the nice idiot. I remember her.”

Kasius bit back a laugh at the far too accurate description of Ria.“She’s celebrating her engagement but that mainly means a lot of food, a lot of dancing, and even more drinking.”

“We can go to that,”she turned around to face him, a smirk on her face.“If you’re not too embarrassed to be seen with a filthy barbarian such as myself?”

“Pay no attention to anything that comes out of Isana’s mouth,”Kasius gave back with a smirk of his own,“I myself abide by that rule and it has served me well through the years.”

 

Kasius was still getting ready for Ria’s celebration a few hours later when there was a knock on the door.

“That’ll be Dar and Aza,”Sinara said, turning to the door. She’d been waiting for him for some time already, refraining from telling him to hurry up with all her might.

“I’ll be there in a moment,”Kasius replied.“I just have to pick which shoes to wear.”

“You take your time,”Sinara said.“I’ll just go ahead and wait with them.”

She was out in the hallway and had the door pulled closed behind herself before Kasius could reply, to her surprise finding only Darillion there.“Where’s Aza?”

Darillion shrugged.“Your guess is as good as mine. I haven’t seen her since she left with Clio last night. I suppose she got over her dislike of Halans.”

“Well, you did want us to be nicer to them,”Sinara teased.

“Nicer as in don’t offend them, not nicer as in start fucking them.” He paused for a moment, then frowned.“Well, it’s more appropriate in your case, I guess, since he’s your husband."

"There has to be some upsides to this all,"she returned with a shrug."Don't tell Aza I said that, tough, or she'll get it in her head again that wimps are my type."

"And that's not your type how? You literally just described it as an upside that -" He broke off with a grimace.“Can we stop talking about this? You and Aza are basically sisters to me.”

“Honestly, I regret the words already spoken.” She leaned against the wall next to him.“Clio told us to go to this thing so I figure she’ll bring Azale back then.”

Kasius stepped out onto the hallway to join them just then, greeting Darillion before looking around searchingly.“Where’s Azale?”

“Probably fucking Clio somewhere,”Sinara said, ignoring the faux retching from Darillion.

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Kasius offered her his arm.“Shall we?”

 

“Would you like to dance?”Kasius asked the moment they'd made it through all the greetings and introductions required of them, Darillion dragged away by some courtiers who considered the Nuxians as some sort of novelty.

Sinara hesitated, then decided there was no harm in being honest. He'd have to get used to her aversion to these types of events at some point, as she'd have to deal with his obsession with his wardrobe.“I’d really rather not, if you don’t mind. I’m not a fan of dancing, really.”

“Oh, that’s fine,”Kasius assured her, though his smile had faded somewhat.

“You should still go dance.” She looked around, finally spotting Azale.“Why don’t you ask Clio?”

“Are you trying to get rid off me so you can go talk to Azale?”

He seemed amused, so she grinned back at him.“Is that rude?”

“I’ll live,”he said, waving to get Clio’s attention with a wink to Sinara.“I’ll interrogate Clio and we can compare notes later.”

“So I take it your night went well?”Sinara asked the second Kasius and Clio were out of earshot, heading towards the dancefloor.

Azale grinned, head slightly tilted.“How nosy. Did I ask you if your husband’s a good lay?”

“Second thing out of your mouth the morning after the wedding, actually.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s true.” She shrugged.“These Halans really do have very soft hands. I could get used to that.”

“The sacrifices you make for peace. You really are a true diplomat, Lady Learridge.” Sinara chuckled at Azale's glare; it wasn't exactly threatening when she was so clearly fighting down laugthter. Sinara tilted her head slightly, taking a closer look at her friend."Where did that dress come from?"

"It's Clio's. Couldn't be bothered to go back to the palace and change." Her glare was a little more earnest, now, but her flushed cheeks undermined it."Not another word, Sin."

"I wasn't going to say anything,"Sinara said, making a mental note to definetly point the dress out to Darillion once she got the chance. It was rather more puffy than Azale would usually willingly wear.

They watched the crowd for a while, making the occasional comment when something interesting caught their eye, but mainly just enjoying the moment of relative peace and quiet.

It didn’t last all too long.

“Idiot incoming,”Azale hissed.“You’re on your own. I’m out.”

She scurried away before Sinara could react. Apparently her newfound tolerance of Halans only extended as far as Clio.

Sinara gave Ria the friendliest look she could manage, suppressing a flinch when the woman actually hugged her.“I wasn’t sure you’d make it!”

“Well, here I am,”Sinara said, grabbing a nearby wineglass of a tray table so she would have something to shield herself from further hugs.“Thanks for the invitation.”

“Of course!” Ria took a glass of wine for herself as well.“It’s so good of you two to come. You newlyweds probably had better things planned.”

“How’s the wedding preparations going?”Sinara asked, not out of actual interest but so Ria would stop talking about Sinara’s own marriage. She was still figuring that all out herself, after all.

Somehow, Ria’s face lit up even more at the question.

 

“And the bodice will be woven completely out of gold,”Ria said what felt like four hours later, beaming excitedly.“I found a forger who can make golden threads so thin it’s actually possible. And it won’t be just silk wrapped in goldwire, the way Sil had for her wedding. It’ll all be pure gold.”

“Doesn’t sound too comfortable,”Sinara put in when the bride-to-be paused, looking at her expectantly. She didn’t know who Sil was nor did she particularly care.

Ria laughed as if she had made a hilarious joke.“But it will look so nice! And the flower arrangements will be perfect. I special ordered these flowers that only grow on Cariv’s third moon, you know? They only bloom for half a day so the timing is a bit of a trouble but they’ll go so well with the chandeliers in the venue I picked. I’m very pleased with the way it’s all working out so far.”

“Wonderful.” Sinara took a sip from her wine, trying to catch Kasius’ eye so he would come rescue her from this - for a lack of a better word - conversation. He simply grinned at her across the dancefloor and did not do as she had hoped. She resigned herself to the situation, deciding to make an effort.“And Canavan?”

Ria blinked confusedly at the mention of her fiancé.“What about him?”

“Oh, nothing.” Sinara waved her off. Ria seemed more excited about the wedding than about her husband-to-be. She had tried to feign interest, but enough was enough. She gave Ria an apologetic smile.“Actually, would you excuse me? I have to go find Kasius.”

“Of course! Don’t let me keep you, sweetheart. You’re newlyweds.” She leaned in with a conspiratory wink.“If you go two doors past the washroom, that room isn’t locked.”

“Right, thanks.”

Sinara made her way across the room, setting her glass down on the tray of a passing waiter. She tapped Clio’s shoulder once she’d reached the dancing pair.“Sorry, mind if I cut in?”

“By all means, go ahead,”Clio stepped back, eyes twinkling with amusement.“He’s your husband, after all. Excuse me.”

And with that she left them to it.

“Did you have a nice chat with Ria?”Kasius asked with faux innocence.

“Leave me alone with her again, and I’ll make myself a widow,”she returned.

Kasius chuckled.“So dancing probably doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?”

“Very funny.” She rolled her eyes, then grabbed his hand to lead him out of the room.“Come on, you’ve got to make it up to me that I’ve had to meet all your friends.”

“In my defense, I only like about half of them.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Oh.” Faulnak stopped in the doorway, the giggling woman on his arm having enough grace to look slightly embarrassed at interrupting them. Faulnak, on the other hand, did not even put on a pretence.“I didn’t realise you’re that dedicated to providing an heir soon. We’ll let you get back to it.”

He was the only one to laugh at that.

“That was not Mala,”Sinara remarked when the door had closed behind the departing couple. She'd been only briefly introdued to the crown prince's fiancée but had thought she was rather too nice for him. This did nothing to convince her otherwise.

“It was not.”

“Poor girl.”

“Mala or Tae?”

Sinara shrugged.“Both? Anyone who’s with Faulnak, really.”

“Agreed.” He brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.“Now, where were we?”

Sinara chuckled, closing the distance between them again and kissing him. Then Faulank’s words actually registered. She pulled back, just enough that she could look Kasius in the face, her arms still around his neck.“You know I’m on birth control, right?”

“Yes?” Kasius frowned, a light blush spreading across his cheeks.“I mean, I kind of just assumed so. But I should have asked, shouldn't I?”

“No, no, that’s fine,”she assured him. It was a strange conversation to have, in some stranger’s guest room with a husband she barely knew. She bit back a laugh, worried he might take it to be at his expense.“It’s just because of what Faulnak said. About an heir.”

“Ah." He smiled, a little uncertainly."That was just him being a nuisance.”

“Just as long as we’re clear.” She kissed along his neck, nipping at his earlobe playfully.“This isn’t about procreation, it’s strictly recreation.”

His blush deepened further, to her utter delight.“Crystal clear.”

* * *

“So, are we walking again?”Kasius asked, offering her his arm as they left Ria’s home.

“Yes,”she said, taking his proffered arm, only then realising she was being rude.“Unless you’d rather not?”

“No, I’d like to." His free hand came to rest atop hers, and she stopped herself from jerking away. Judging by his smile, the impulse had luckily gone unnoticed."It’s such a nice night.”

He was right about that. Once they were away from the blinding lights of the inner city, the night sky shone in all its beauty.

“Oh!” Sinara stopped walking to take a proper look. The previous nights since her arrival had all been overcast.“The moons are out!”

She had known Hala had two moons, of course, but actually seeing them was a different matter.“Ours is bigger, I think.”

“We got two to make up for that,”Kasius deadpanned.

Sinara rolled her eyes.“Oh, so you’re a comedian now?”

“Who says I’ve not always been one?”

“In that case, you’ve got some work to do,”she teased, returning her attention to the sky, taking in the constellations that were both familiar and entirely foreign. She pointed upwards.“Is that the Rider? It looks wrong from this angle.”

He leaned closer to follow her line of sight and figure out which constellation she might mean.

“We call that the Hunter,”Kasius said.“It might be the same constellation, though. There’s an astronomical observatory in the forest near the palace, if you want to get a proper look.”

“Yes, please.”

“It’s a little out of the way but I’ll get us a driver tomorrow and -”

“Can’t we go now?”Sinara interrupted.“The night’s so clear. It might be overcast again tomorrow.”

He took one look at the excited sparkle in her eyes and sighed in defeat.“Alright, let’s go.”

* * *

“I used to come here with my mother,”Kasius said, pushing the cover off the control panel.“I haven’t been here in a long time but my prints ought to be in the system anyway.”

He pressed his thumb against the sensor, and the door slid open before them. He gave a joking half bow, gesturing for Sinara to go ahead.“After you.”

She walked past him, heading straight for the spiral staircase leading to the observation deck as Kasius took a moment to adjust the thermostat.The treck through the woods had been colder than he would have liked, not to mention the state it had left his shoes in. But he could hardly complain when it meant he at last had a moment alone with his wife without the threat of interruption.

She was already stargazing by the time he’d followed her upstairs.

Kasius left her to her own devices initially and went to adjust another telescope, finally turning to call her over.“Nara, come here and look at this.”

“Nara?”she repeated, giving him a quizzical look.“No one calls me that.”

“I just thought it suited you.” His cheeks were flooded with colour, the smile fading off his face.“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I like it.” She crossed over to him, hand resting on the telescope, her eyes still on him. It was almost starting to embarrass her just how charming she found his blushing.“So, what exactly am I looking for, Kas?”

“You’ll see,”he assured her, smiling again the moment she used the nickname.“You really can’t miss it.”

She leaned in, finding the telescope directed at the smaller of Hala's two moons.

“Oh!” It really was impossible to miss.“The craters look like flowers.”

“Pretty, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s really - oh, shit.” She turned to face him, biting her lower lip.“There’s a ship heading towards us. It’s from Orid.”

* * *

By the time they had made it back to the palace to warn everyone of the approaching ship, the scanners had of course already picked it up, and the ship itself had made contact to boot. Garron sent a ship of their own to collect the delegation from Orid, who were claiming they had come to treat in Imperator Eurielle’s stead.

Garron sealed himself away with his advisers, leaving Kasius and Sinara no choice but to retire to their chambers and await news.

Kel-Ra, at least, sent word to his daughter to inform her that Nux, too, had gotten foreign visitors. He did not say more, clearly not trusting the connection to be adequately encoded, even if he did not put that worry into words.

“It seems the news of our marriage has spread to Orid,”Sinara said as she took the pins out of her hair, the elaborate style she’d worn to Ria’s party coming quickly undone.

Kasius sat down in the chair across from her.“So it seems, yes. Do you think your father is ready to negotiate?”

“Of course, there’s no harm in hearing what they have to say." That Orid could hardly be worse than Hala seemed quietly implied."Is yours?”

“I don’t know,”Kasius returned truthfully. He rolled his eyes.“Half the time I don’t think he knows what he wants himself.”

Sinara bit back a smile.“In that case, I suppose we will just have to wait and see.”


	12. Chapter 12

They had ten more days of trying to get to know one another in peace before Garron told Kasius that Orid’s imperator wished to negotiate a truce and perhaps a trade alliance, and he and Sinara would be send to do the bargaining on behalf of both their kingdoms.

“Well, of course, we’re the perfect envoys to send,”Sinara said when he relayed the news.“Important enough to cause no offense but not so important we can’t be expended, if worst comes to worst.”

Kasius blinked at her in surprise.“Your father wouldn’t ransom you?”

His own likely wouldn’t but Kel-Ra had appeared to actually care for his daughter.

“Depends on what they might demand.” She shrugged.“But it doesn't matter, since it won’t come to that. They think my position as heir means nothing until I’ve actually won the crown. They’re like your father in that.”

It was embarrassing just how clear Garron had managed to make his opinion of the Nuxian customs. Still, Kasius protested, even if only out of politeness.“My father doesn’t think -”

“He does. Otherwise I’d be having this discussion with Faulnak.” She pulled a face.“Small mercies in ignorance, I suppose.”

Being labelled the lesser evil when given a choice between Faulnak and himself might not quite be a compliment but Kasius still appreciated it. Any indication that Sinara didn’t think ill of him was soothing, and it was ever so hard to even guess at what she was thinking. She shared his bed but she shared little else.

By all logic, he probably was a very disappointing husband. He was no warrior, after all, whereas his wife came from a people that valued valour above all else.

“The journey will take about a fortnight,”Kasius said, more to distract himself from that line of thought than anything else.“And we may be there for at least that long again.”

Sinara nodded.“I’ll send Aza and Darillion home, then. No point in handing them four possible hostages.”

“Good thinking.” He offered her a smile.“And mayhaps we can go to Nux after?”

She returned the smile, eyes shining with excitement at the mention of returning home.“I’d like that, yes. The council wants to meet you anyway.”

Mayhaps that should have made him nervous, but he couldn't think any further than how he could possibly get her to smile at the thought of him like that. There was no sight more beautiful.

* * *

Sinara had not taken into account that they’d be stuck in close quarters with no one but their servants and guards for company when she had made the decision for her friends to return home.

The first few days of her marriage she had managed quite well by asking to see as much of Hala as possible, or meeting Kasius’ friends - annoying that they were for the most part- or by having Darillion and Azale around anytime she could in any way justify their presence. Which, in Azale's case, was any occassion that saw Clio joining them, it seemed.

But on the spaceship, there was no easy escape from Kasius and his seemingly unending need for communication.

He wanted to know practically every detail of her life, from her daily routine on Nux to her great grandmother’s name to which of her friends belonged to which factions. She’d have accused him of political espionage if he hadn’t shown the same interest for even less relevant things, like her favourite colour and what sort of books she liked and if she had ever had a pet.

She had managed to find a way around it quick enough. If she answered one of his questions and then turned it around on him, she could usually get him to just keep talking with follow-up questions. Listening was much better than having to do the talking. And he was a good storyteller, painting pictures so clear she could almost hear the voices of the people he talked about, even if she had only met them once or twice.

And if he ever did start getting on her nerves with all the talking, there was at least one surefire way to get him to shut up that she enjoyed using.

* * *

Sinara took a moment to catch her breath, then sitting up and throwing her legs over the edge of the bed just as Kasius reached for her again, his fingers brushing against her hip.

She stood up anyway, as always pretending she hadn’t noticed, just as he pretended not to know she was pretending.

At least that was how it usually went. Apparently he had enough of it.

“Nara,”he said, smiling that sated, tranquil smile she knew so well by now.“Just stay for once. Please?”

“I’ll be back in a bit,”she replied as casually as she could manage.

He smile was gone now.“Yes, as usual, firmly on your side of the bed.”

“That’s why beds have two sides,”she said, trying to keep the annoyance from her voice. He had warned her he was sentimental the day of their wedding. Maybe she should have seen this coming.

“So sex isn’t a problem but you draw the line at cuddling?” The look on his face would have been comically if she wasn’t so sure he was serious about the whole matter.

Sinara shrugged.“I’m not exactly a very cuddly person. Even less so with people I barely know.”

“We’re married,”he reminded her. As if that meant anything at all.

“I’m aware,”she said, rolling her eyes at the scowl on his face.“It’s not as if either of us wanted that.”

“Right. Of course.” He was smiling again now, tight-lipped and so clearly forced she wondered whether it hurt his face. He gestured to the bathroom vaguely.“Don’t let me keep you.”

She thought about apologising for a moment but then headed to the shower nonetheless. Whatever maudlin madness had overcome him to bring this up, she was not about to encourage it by engaging in any sort of discussion. There was no reason to apologise for something she had no cause to feel guilty over, or so she told herself as she let the water wash over her until it turned cold.

Kasius was feigning sleep by the time she returned.


	13. Chapter 13

“Are you done sulking yet?”Sinara asked during lunch the following day.

Kasius scowled at her.“I’m doing no such thing.”

She rolled her eyes.“Right, of course not. It just seems that way because you’ve barely spoken to me all day.”

“I didn’t think that would bother you,”he retorted icily.

In truth, it had been rather disconcerting for him to be so quiet, but whether or not she'd found herself actually almost missing his ramblings was hardly the point.

“We’ve almost arrived,”Sinara said, deciding to appeal to his sense of logic rather than try to figure out his feelings. She rarely even wasted a second on her own.“We can’t seem to be at odds on Orid. They will be looking for any sign of divide between Nux and Hala.”

“I’m aware. It won’t be an issue. Contrary to what you think, I’m not a complete idiot.”

“I don’t think you’re an idiot,”she snapped.“But you’re doing a very convincing impression of one right now.”

Kasius’ glare faltered and he chuckled, causing Sinara to frown at him.“What’s so funny?”

“It’s just occurred to me that we’re bickering like an old married couple,”he said with an air of indifference belied by his smile.

“We’re not -”she started, then broke off. He had a point, perhaps, and even if he didn’t she could let him have this. It seemed to make him happy.“I suppose we are.”

* * *

They arrived on Orid a few hours later, both of them in carefully chosen garb that reflected Nux as well as Hala, and left them both vaguely uncomfortable. Kasius had refrained from complaining about the leather belts, though Sinara could tell by his face that he had desperately wanted to. In turn, she had swallowed every comment about the excessive amount of glitter across her eyelids.

“Remember, we are very happy,”Kasius whispered to her as the ramp of their ship descended.

Sinara laughed and tucked her hand into the crook of his proffered arm.“I’ll do my best to keep it in mind, husband.”

The welcome party did not include Imperator Eurielle, not that they had expected her to come meet them herself. A second born son and an heir who may never actually inherit were beneath a personal appearance by the ruler of the kingdom, peace negotiators or not.

“My aunt sends her regards,”said the lord who greeted them in her stead, Tyan.“She invites you to join her in the morning so you may break your fasts together, Your Highnesses.”

“Your Excellency,”Kasius corrected.

Tyan frowned at that.“Beg your pardon?”

“The correct form of address for my wife is Your Excellency,”Kasius said.“We’re here for diplomatic dealings. I’d rather Her Imperial Highness and her representatives be well aware of diplomatic matters.”

“Of course.” Tyan’s smile was a frozen mask as he turned to Sinara.“My sincerest apologies, Your Excellency. I meant no offense.”

"None taken,"Sinara returned, though making a mental note to see if his aunt, too, was more interested in trading with Hala rather than Nux. And if so, if she'd at least have the good grace to be more subtle about it than Tyan.

* * *

The chambers they were taken to were very nice, somewhere between Nux and Hala when it came to frivolous amounts of extravagance.

The moment the servants had left them to their own devices, Kasius dug an interfering transmitter out of one of his bags and set it down on one of the nightstands, fiddling with the settings until he was sure the whole area was covered.“That should block any bugs they’ve put here.”

“Good.” Sinara was already making her rounds of the room, finding all vents big enough for anything to come through and jamming the hinges, checking for all else unusual that caught her eye, going from room to room. She took a step back out of the small library, eyeing the living room wall before stepping back inside.“The library’s missing about a foot of space on that wall. Could be a tunnel but I can’t find its exit.”

“Could also be shoddy architecture,”Kasius suggested, inspecting the wall himself.“The archway we passed earlier wasn’t symmetrical. But I suggest we keep that door locked at night either way.”

“That works.” Sinara smiled, gesturing towards the living room.“They have a malech set in there. Do you play?”

“Of course I do,”he replied, already walking over to the two armchairs flanking the table the game sat on.“Do you want the golden pieces?”

Sinara followed him and sat down as well.“Yeah, thanks.”

The different colours didn’t really mean anything but she did prefer the golden ones. It was one of those silly things children placed importance on that stuck into adulthood, and one of the useless tidbits Kasius had somehow weaseled out of her on their journey. She hadn’t thought he’d actually remembered any of them.

They took their time setting up the board, looking over the other’s half every now and again to see whether they could already make sense of their strategy. Malech was a game with many possible movesets and mainly depended on being able to read your opponents plans so you could stop them. Good matches could go on for a couple of days.

They were only about an hour into the game when Sinara reached out and grabbed Kasius’ wrist, stopping him from moving his piece as intended.“Stop that! You can’t just cheat right where I can see it.”

“So I can cheat when you don’t notice?”he asked with a chuckle.“And I am not cheating. That’s a perfectly valid move.”

“It is not,”Sinara protested, her hand still on his arm.

Kasius tilted his head, surveying the board curiously.“It is on Hala. I think we may have to actually talk about the rules.”

“Or we could just see what comes up as we’re playing,”Sinara suggested.

Kasius laughed heartily.“You really hate talking, don’t you?”

“You should know I do, I’m your wife.”

* * *

Imperator Eurielle simply inclined her head in greeting, one hand placed across her heart, when Kasius and Sinara entered the hall the servant had guided them to the next morning. They mirrored the gesture, the usual greeting among her people.

“Good morning, Your Excellency, Your Highness,”she said, indicating the seats across from her.“Please, sit. Thank you for joining me.”

“Our pleasure,”Sinara said. She already liked the woman more than her nephew. Even if her addressing Sinara by title first was simply an expected courtesy, Tyan had proven already that not everyone acknowledged that Sinara outranked Kasius.

Eurielle gestured for the servants to begin dishing up, not taking her eyes of Kasius and Sinara.“I’m sorry to impose on such a young marriage. You must have had plans other than acting as envoys, surely.”

“You needn’t be sorry,”Kasius assured her, giving Sinara a smile so convincingly enamoured she couldn’t remember why she’d ever been worried he might give the imperator the wrong impression.“The journey gave us some very welcome peace and quiet.”

She returned his smile and reached for his hand under the table, squeezing it just long enough that she was sure Eurielle had noticed.

The imperator smiled, and it almost looked genuine.“Well, in that case, I am happy to help.”

The meal continued with superficially smalltalk; they were still in that early phase were everyone acted as if they were there for a social visit, no matter that everyone knew that was the furthest from the truth.

That evening was no different, a ball hosted in their honour so anybody who was anybody on Orid could meet them.

By the time they could finally retire for the night, Sinara was so exhausted she almost wished Orid had just declared war on them instead. Battlefields she could navigate, but politics outside of Nux were more complex and needlessly factitious than anything could have ever prepared her for.

"You did well,"Kasius said softly, shrugging at the surprised look she threw him in return."You hated every minute of that, didn't you?"

Sinara chuckled."Well, maybe not every minute. The food was good."

"Silver linings." He reached out to tuck a stray lock behind her ear, hand lingering against her cheek."How about some wine to make you feel better? And you can continue humiliating me in malech."

"That's the first sensible thing I've heard all evening,"Sinara said, refraining from pulling away from his touch.

Just so she wouldn't hurt his ridiculously delicate feelings again, of course. If she leaned in a little, that was simply a sign of exhaustion.


	14. Chapter 14

It was only on the third day after their arrival on Orid that they finally started negotiating terms of a possible tradedeal.

Imperator Eurielle had demands that they could only refuse, which she surely knew, starting with higher goals than she was willing to settle for, as any good negotiator would.

The days were passed with negotiations, feastings, and some time spend learning more of Orid’s culture. It was a pleasant enough time, considering it was a diplomatic mission, and Eurielle was a witty woman, making the negotiations if not enjoyable, then at least endurable.

It was her nephew Tyan that drove them up the walls with his constant interjections; as current de facto heir he saw himself and his opinions as equally important, it appeared.

He even tried to engage Kasius and Sinara in discussions over the truce when the imperator herself wasn’t present, attempting to mask it as social calls. When they politely refused to take a nightcap with him, citing the late hour and wanting to return to their chambers, he became near aggressively insistent, finally settling on pushing the bottle into Kasius’ hands and telling them to enjoy it by themselves.

“He was a little pushy about us taking this, wasn’t he?”Kasius pondered once they had returned to their rooms, setting the bottle down on the table unopened.

Sinara nodded.“Extremely so. There is no way we are drinking even a sip of that. Should we just pour it down the drain?”

“No, let’s keep it,”Kasius said after a moment’s hesitation.“We can have it analysed back on Nux. I would like to know just what he was trying to do to us.”

“Fair enough.” She toed off her shoes and settled down in what she by now thought of as her armchair. There was really no point in worrying what Tyan might be up to, not when they had no way of finding out.“Want to keep losing at malech?”

Kasius took his seat across from her, a half smile quirking the right side of his lips.“Or am I lulling you into a false sense of security?”

Sinara laughed.“No, pretty sure you’re just objectively bad at this game.”

* * *

Sinara awoke to a strange noise in the middle of the night, a sort of scraping sound.

She reached out until her hand found Kasius’, closing around his wrist.“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”he asked, automatically adopting a soft whisper as well.

“I’m not sure.” She sat up, ears perked for another noise.“It came from the library, I think.”

She got up and moved closer to the room in question, ignoring Kasius hissing her name in a warning tone. Then she heard it again. Someone was definitely trying to open the door.

Sinara only paused by the living room table briefly to pick up the heavy diamond bottle they’d left there the previous evening. It was a good weight to incapacitate whomever she might find without needing to worry much about accidentally killing them. They would need them alive for questioning.

She looked over her shoulder, gesturing for Kasius to stay where he was. Then she unlocked the door before the person on the other side could make any further attempts to do so themselves, finding herself face to face with the intruder.

She took a swing at him that he only just managed to block, the bottle slamming into his forearm rather than the side of his head.

There was a flash of metal, a sudden pain, and he’d slammed the door. By the time she’d wrenched it open again, the intruder was just disappearing into a gap between two shelves that slid closed again behind him. Sinara hurried over, but it was too late.

Even now that she knew which part of the shelving masked the tunnel, she still couldn’t find the switch to activate it.

Sinara stood there, dumbfounded. Then she turned to Kasius, who was hovering uncertainly in the doorway.“Well, fuck.”

“You’re bleeding,”he said, horrified, crossing over and taking a hold of her arm.

“It’s nothing.” She didn’t pull away, allowing him to fuss over what was barely more than a scratch in her eyes.“What do you want to bet they’ll find traces of sleeping powder when we give Tyan’s gift to the lab?”

“You don’t need stitches,”Kasius said, apparently not caring for an explanation of the night’s events in the slightest.“I do have disinfectant with me. I can get you sorted out here just fine.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t complain when he made her sit on the bed and kept acting as if it was an actual injury. It was oddly nice, really.

“So we’re leaving first thing in the morning,”Kasius said once he was done putting a completely unnecessary bandage on Sinara’s arm.

She frowned.“Isn’t that a bit of an overreaction?”

“No.” His tone didn’t invite any argument.“We don’t need Orid. They need us and decided to attempt to kill us in our sleep. They’re lucky we don’t blow their planet to pieces.”

“The people here have done nothing,”Sinara reminded him.

“I know. That’s why I’m not advocating for a declaration of war. But negotiations can’t go forward under these circumstances.”

He did have a point. Sinara nodded.“It would make us look weak.”

* * *

Imperator Eurielle was full of apologies, solemn assurances they would find the would-be assassin, and concern the next morning when they informed her of what had happened; she either truly had no hand in it all or was an excellent actress. Tyan was notably nowhere to be found and did not come to see them off when their ship departed before the sun had even fully risen.

 

“I can’t believe the brazenness of those people,”Kasius complained once they had taken off and were settling back into their chambers on the ship.“As if trying to murder us in our beds wasn’t enough, they only sent one man to do it?”

“Well, as far as we know, we were supposed to be unconscious,”she reminded him.“Are you really offended they didn’t think it needed a small army to kill you?”

“Don’t be silly. I know I’d be worryingly easy to kill, conscious or not.” He let out a little huff.“But them assuming a single cat’s paw would be enough to take you out? Have they not heard of the Battle of Mevare?”

Sinara couldn’t help herself but find his annoyance with the matter endearing.“I wasn’t alone there. I had three dozen soldiers.”

“And Father’s forces outnumbered you six to one,”he reminded her, as if she was ever like to forget. At the end she’d only had four soldiers left, but the Empire’s men had been eradicated.“General Krenyk uses it as an example in training. You really impressed him. He says you’re a strategic mastermind.”

“Which is probably why I’m much better at malech than you are.”

“The game wasn’t over,"Kasius said with little conviction."I could’ve still beat you.”

“You know, I thought you might say that,”Sinara replied.“Look into that red bag, will you?”

He did as she had asked him, laughing at what he found.“You stole their malech set?”

“It seemed fair enough. After all, they did try to kill us.”

“You, wife, are amazing.” He smiled at her so sincerely then she had to turn away, pretending to look for something in another bag.

How ridiculous. Her cheeks were burning.


	15. Chapter 15

Sinara was down the ramp ahead of Kasius, reaching for her father, the two pressing their foreheads together as they exchanged some words and laughter.

Kel-Ra greeted him with the same familial gesture, though much briefer than with Sinara. Kasius still came away smiling. He knew Sinara had been writing back and forth with her father on their journey. Clearly whatever she had reported had endeared Kasius to the king - to his father-in-law.

“The council is looking forward to finally meet you,”Kel-Ra told him.

Kasius smiled.“The feeling’s quite mutual.”

“There’ll be a celebration to welcome you both home tonight,”he said.“It won’t be quite to Halan standards, I’m afraid.”

“I’m sure it will be perfect,”Kasius returned sincerely, a wave of fondness rushing through him. _Home_ , Kel-Ra had said, so casually as if it truly applied to Kasius as well.

Sinara smiled at him brightly.“I’ll show you around until then.”

She did just that, the two spending a while in the palace and the surrounding grounds before Sinara grew more earnest.

“There’s another place I want to show you,”she said, and then failed to elaborate. She was chewing on her lower lip, looking at him for a long while before finally speaking again.“I’d like to take you to my mother’s grave, if you don’t mind? Her birthday would have been last week.”

“I’d be honoured to pay my respects,”he said, doing his best not to show his surprise. Sinara rarely offered up anything private out of her own accord.

 

Kasius had never been to a graveyard before, unsure of what exactly would await him. On Hala, the dead weren’t buried; the bodies were cremated, and among the nobility it was common practice to have the ashes made into a gemstone to be set into a family heirloom or become the basis for a new one. The closest thing he’d ever had to a place of mourning was at his mother’s portrait in the palace gallery.

The graveyard was not the dreary place he had expected. Instead, it was an oddly invigorating place. It was lively and colourful, trees he had never seen before growing tall between the graves, vines winding up their trunks, blossoms blooming. The smell of spring was in the air, and he heard birds chirping somewhere out of sight. The paths were not paved, but many visitors had walked them enough that they were just as clearly discernible.

The graves themselves were covered with smooth, flat stones. Many of the graves had a single flower beneath the simple headstones. He wondered about their meaning, but got distracted by something else before he could ask.

“What about those graves over there?”Kasius asked, pointing to a cluster of plots that had statues in place of the headstones. The stood out rather obviously among the otherwise flat graves.

“That’s where we bury our kings and queens,”Sinara replied as they walked towards the graves in question.“They’re the only ones who get statues. Mourning is usually kept to friends and family. But they were mothers and fathers to our people, in a way.” She nodded towards the statue closest to them. There was a flower in the statue’s hands rather than on the grave itself.“That’s my grandmother Vita.”

Kasius studied the marble face. He couldn’t see Sinara in her, but Kel-Ra had the same sharp cheekbones and high forehead.“She looks nice.”

“She’d complain they got her nose wrong if she’d see this,”Sinara said. She grinned.“She’d be wrong. It just was like that." She looked at the statue for a few moments longer, then started moving again with a barely audible sigh."Come on, it’s not far from here.”

She kept walking along the winding path, Kasius following silently. For once, he did not know what to say.

Then Sinara stopped walking rather abruptly.

“Here she is,”Sinara said, tone suddenly changed, voice slightly choked. Her mother’s grave was among those with a flower.

Sinara crouched down beside the grave, pressing two fingers above her heart and then touching them to the headstone.

Kasius waited for her to break the sombre silence until he couldn’t take it any longer.“Why are the flowers only on some graves?”

He regretted the words the moment he had spoken them, already beginning an apology when Sinara looked up at him. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears.

“The ones with no flowers are old graves. It’s a tradition.” Sinara’s fingers brushed across the single white flower atop the stone grave delicately, a sad half-smile on her face.“We say the dead live on in our memories, so as long as someone still thinks to make sure there’s a flower on her grave, she’s never really gone." She shrugged with a small sniffle."It’s really just a silly thing for children but I think it’s a beautiful sentiment.”

“I believe it holds a certain amount of truth,”Kasius replied.“My grandmother told me the same thing when my mother died. It did help some.”

Sinara straightened up again and returned to his side.“You were very young when she died, weren’t you?”

“Seven,”he supplied. It had been a horrid time. His father had often berated him for crying, he recalled.“What about you?”

“I was nineteen.” She frowned.“I was on the same battlefield. It was the first time I had command of my own troops. Sometimes I think I may have been able to save her, if I had just been with her instead.”

He took her hand and gently squeezed it; she let out a watery laugh.“I’m being silly, don’t mind me.”

“Thank you for sharing this with me,”he said.“And it’s not your fault.”

He almost expected her to laugh at him for saying something so cliched, no matter that he did truly mean it.

Instead she hugged him and whispered,“Thank you.”

She pulled away again quickly, a slight hint of colour in her cheeks.“We should really get back to the palace now.”

On the way back, he reached out and took her hand again. She didn’t pull away.


	16. Chapter 16

Kasius was rummaging through his wardrobe, not finding anything that really seemed to be the right fit, in spite of the fact that he'd brought enough clothes to have made Sinara roll her eyes at the sight of his luggage.

Finally, he gave up with a sigh, turning to Sinara, who had been watching him all the while.“So what do I wear to this?”

“I actually ordered something for you,”she said, lips quirked in amusement.“It should be here shortly. It’s Nuxian style. I hope you don’t hate it.”

She said the last part in a joking tone, yet he was almost sure it wasn’t entirely in jest. She only chewed on her lower lip like that when she was nervous.

“Thank you.” He crossed over to her, brushing a kiss across her lips, effectively stopping the subconscious habit for the moment.“That was very thoughtful of you.”

Her cheeks flushed with colour, her laugh a little more high pitched than usual.“Well, I wouldn’t want you to embarrass me.” She fiddled with his collar, seemingly unsure what to do with her hands.“You know, shock all of my fellow barbarians by having you be much too refined to mix with the rabble.”

Kasius chuckled."Oh, of course, we wouldn't want that."

 

“You look very handsome,”Sinara assured Kasius some time later, once his attire for the evening had arrived and he’d gotten dressed.“And I promise to point out all the Isanas so you can avoid them.”

He laughed at that and finally turned away from the mirror, having eyed himself uncertainly for quite a while.“Well, then nothing can go wrong, can it?”

“Well, Aza’s mother might hate you,”Sinara said with a shrug, opening the door and gesturing for him to move.“But she hates most people, so don’t take it to heart. Though she’ll probably hate you a little more, since you’re from Hala and all.”

He followed her into the hallway.“I can’t tell if you’re joking right now, Nara.”

She looped her arm through his, grinning up at him.“You’ll just have to find out, won’t you?”

* * *

Introductions with the council had gone well enough that Sinara felt she could leave Kasius to mingle on his own for a while after dinner, going to catch up with some old friends in the meanwhile. She did make sure to keep an eye on her husband as she did so.

Darillion came over to join her after a bit, following her gaze across the room.

“You really like him, don’t you?”he asked, a fond smile on his face.

Sinara threw him an annoyed look, finding herself smiling again the moment she returned her attention to Kasius, who was happily engaged in conversation with her father. She shrugged, going for nonchalant but probably landing closer to snappish when she replied,“Well, he’s my husband.”

Aza's teasing she could deal with, but Darillion wasn't looking to make fun of her. He was actually being sincere, which was infinitely worse.

“That’s a meaningless point in an arranged marriage, Sin, and you know it.” He nudged her arm with his elbow.“Seriously, it’s fine. It’s a good thing. You can admit it.”

“I’m going to go dance with my husband now,”Sinara said rather than getting sucked into Darillion’s nonsense. If she let him talk any longer, he’d probably start talking about romance or something equally idiotic. She pretended not to hear him laugh as she walked away.

 

“Father, may I borrow Kasius for a moment?”

Kel-Ra smiled at her fondly.“Of course, Rara. He’s all yours.”

“Thank you,”she said, then turned to Kasius, holding out her hand.“Care to dance?”

“I thought you didn’t like to dance?”Kasius said, taking her proffered hand in his nonetheless.

“Well, on occasion I do,”she returned on their way to the dancefloor.“And you like to dance. Isn’t marriage all about compromise?”

“In that case you’d think you could let me win at malech just once,”he teased back.

Sinara chuckled, placing her other hand on his shoulder.“That’s not a compromise, that would be pity. Besides, if you ever do end up not getting utterly destroyed, wouldn’t you rather have earned it?”

He grimaced.“Is you not calling it utter destruction a compromise? I didn’t do that badly. You just happen to be better.”

“Don’t try to smooth talk your way out of admitting failure.”

* * *

“You’ll be here for quite a while now, won’t you?”Azale asked without preamble, her and Darillion sidling up to them as they left the dancefloor to get drinks.

Kasius nodded, wondering why she was posing that question to him and not Sinara. He didn’t have to wonder for long, though.

“You could invite some of your friends to visit, if you’re feeling lonely,”she suggested.

He refrained from laughing at that, though his amusement almost certainly showed.“Like Clio?”

Azale gave a non committal hum in reply.“If you think she’d like to come here.”

“Oh, I’m sure she’d love to come here,”Sinara interjected, tone entirely suggestive.“Now stop bugging him, Aza, or you can’t come to the lake.”

She had mentioned wanting to go there the next day, it being too far to squeeze in before the evening’s festivities.

Azale snorted.“What, you’re gonna take all of your other _friend_ instead?”

“I have friends besides you and Darillion,”Sinara protested.

“Do you, though?”

Sinara shrugged.“Maybe not particularly close friends. But do you?”

“No, I’m not very likeable,”Azale deadpanned.

Kasius did laugh this time, then quickly fell silent as Azale turned to stare at him.

“Sorry, I thought that was a joke,”he said.

“It was.” Sinara gave Azale a shove.“And this is why she has no friends.”

“And why I wonder daily why I’m friends with either of you,”Darillion added, rolling his eyes.“As it is, I only came over to say good night, since I'll be heading out. An alarm in the east wing keeps going off and they can’t figure out why.”

“Want me to come, too?”Sinara offered, but he waved her off.

“Probably an issue with the wiring." There was a spark of mirth in his eyes as he looked from Sinara to Kasius."You kids enjoy yourself.”

“Well, you heard the man.” She turned back to Kasius.“More champagne?”


	17. Chapter 17

“Sorry it wasn’t a banquet,”Sinara said, laying down on the blanket they had brought with them to the lake. Azale and Darillion had left shortly after they’d eaten, though Sinara was entirely certain they didn’t actually have anything important to do, the way they’d claimed. Still, she hadn’t argued the point.

“Don’t be. It’s nice.” Kasius laid down next to her, so close their arms almost brushed.“I haven’t been on a picnic since my mother died.” He fell silent for a few moments, watching the stray clouds drift by above them.“We used to find shapes in the clouds.”

“I played that with grandmother,”Sinara replied.“I’d find a shape and then she’d make it a story.”

“That sounds lovely.”

“It was.” She turned onto her side to look at him.“Tell me more about your mother.”

He rarely mentioned her; when he did, it was as if he’d slipped up. A wound that never had been allowed to heal, still fresh after two decades.

Even now, he looked at her uncertainly, as if he expected her to take it back.“Do you really want to hear about her?”

“I do,”she said simply.

And so he told her about his mother, about the books she had read him and the games they had played, how his father had reprimanded him for grieving her death, how no one spoke of her, not since his uncle had passed as well, about how he could hardly remember her voice but he still missed her. He spoke until he was out of words, it seemed, falling silent and reaching out to brush a lock of hair behind Sinara’s ear.

She knew she should say something but she had never been good with words. She just took his hand instead. From the way he looked at her when she did, that wasn't the worst substitute.

Eventually, it was Kasius who broke the silence.“Nara?”

It was really quite embarrassing, Sinara thought, just how much she enjoyed him calling her that.“Kas?”

“I’m really glad you’re my wife.”

“So am I,”she said and kissed him.

They broke apart at the incessant beeping of her communicator. She pressed the incoming message away without looking, but it started right back up.

“Just check it,”Kasius said. He hadn't moved away much, his forehead resting against hers, eyes half closed.“It seems to be important.”

Sinara pulled away reluctantly, the communicator starting its beeping again already. She rolled her eyes, quip dying on her lips as she took a look at the device. There were a dozen different messages. That was never good. She opened Azale’s latest. It consisted of only two words.

_Come home._

 

They returned to find the palace in uproar, guards hurrying every which way, the bells ringing out a haunting tune.

“The bells,”Sinara choked out.“There not supposed to ring - not unless -”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish the thought, taking off down the palace halls. She had to get to her father.

Kasius followed close behind; he could not know what the bells signified, but he could feel the fear radiating off his wife.

She slowed when she turned the corner to her father’s chambers and saw multiple palace guards already milling around the door. She walked up to them, willing her knees not to give out from under her.

“Sinara,”Azale said, voice breaking on the single word.

“What happened?”Sinara asked, trying to see past Darillion who was firmly blocking her path.“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t go in there.” The way Darillion said those words already told her all else; the ringing of the bells had not been some mistake. He was unnaturally pale, his hand shaking as he reached out to put it on Sinara’s shoulder.“I’m so sorry, Sin. But he’s dead. Your father’s dead.”

“No,”Sinara whispered, looking to Azale as if she could take back Darillion’s words, as if she might make them untrue. Kasius’ hand was touching her elbow, Darillion’s eyes were shining with tears, but all she could comprehend in that moment was Azale slowly nodding.

“No,”she repeated, louder this time, and then turned and sank into Kasius’ waiting arms. She buried her face into the crook of his neck, letting the tears flow freely, letting him whisper meaningless words of comfort as his hand drew soothing circles on her back, letting herself be a daughter who had lost her father, for just a moment, before she drew away to be a princess who had to deal with the fallout of regicide.

She wiped her face with the back of her hand, more to bring herself out of the shock than in hopes of actually cleaning away the tears and smudged makeup.“How did it happen? Do they have the murderer?”

“Not yet,”Azale said.“I gave orders to close the ports. The search parties are still looking.”

 

They would still be searching three days later, when it was time to bury the king.


	18. Chapter 18

The mourning colour on Nux was white, the same as it was on Hala. Apart from that little else was the same.

The King's body had been laid out in the throne room; they had paid their respects and said their final goodbyes that morning. Now they were preparing for the burial itself.

Kasius kept a close eye on his wife, almost expecting her to break into tears at some point. She hadn't cried since she'd first heard of her father's murder. She hadn't truly grieve at all, as far as Kasius could tell. But then he himself didn't know how to grieve, and he certainly did not know how to help someone else with that. He'd almost asked her what she needed, how he could help her, but he'd never actually managed to get out the words. Even now he was too afraid of her reaction.

“Am I dressed inappropriately?”Kasius asked instead, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. Sinara’s own clothes were quite simple, the only bit of flourish the mesh sleeves and the train she’d fastened around her waist with a belt.

She glanced at him, then returned her attention to the mirror.“No, you’re fine. Why do you ask?”

He hesitated briefly, hoping not to offend as he answered truthfully,“What you’re wearing is very simple by comparison.”

“Of course. The ceremony is right after the burial,”Sinara said as she continued braiding her hair back, so it would not get in her way in battle or be too easy for an opponent to grab.“I won’t change again beforehand.”

Kasius was still as appalled as when she’d first mentioned that.“I really don’t see why they couldn’t give you at least some time to mourn.”

Maybe she would allow herself to fall apart if she didn't know she'd have to pick up the pieces again right away. The way things were, she did not, and his words earned him a scowl.

“I had three days. And Nux needs a ruler,”she reminded him.

“I know,"Kasius relented."I’d just rather you didn’t have to do this. Or at least not so soon.”

If he were honest, he found the whole practice of the ceremony horrifying. Calling it a ceremony was doing nothing to mask the fact that it was really just ritual slaughter. He knew better than to express that sentiment.

“It’s how we’ve had generations of rulers who put the people before all else.” She frowned at him, then turned back around, though she was still watching him next to her own reflection.“Grandmother won the queenship through the ceremony. If it had all gone simply by bloodlines, you might be married to Aza. The first queen of Nux was a Learridge.”

“I’m aware, I’ve read the histories.” He really did not want to start an argument with her; it wasn’t as if anything he had to say on the matter would keep her out of the ceremonial arena. Only abdication could do that. A possibility on paper alone, he knew. Not once in all the time Nux had spent as a free kingdom had any of the claimants by blood chosen to do so. And even if it were a common thing, he was certain Sinara would never even entertain the idea.

* * *

Sinara placed the last of the stones on her father’s grave before straightening up and tucking the small flowerpot into the statue’s hands securely. The sculpture had gotten Kel-Ra’s smile exactly right. It was both comforting and hard to look at.

Ta-Nhi, the overseer of ceremonies, stepped forward, turning everyone’s attention from the grave to herself.“One leader has left us, a new one will prove themselves.” She looked to Sinara.“Your Excellency, it is time for the choosing.”

“Choose wisely, choose well,”Sinara said, inclining her head to leaders of the factions, her hand splayed out across her heart, then turning to walk back into the castle.

Kasius hesitated for a moment, then leaned closer to Azale and whispered,“Am I allowed to go with her?”

“By tradition there’s no reason not to,”Azale said.“Whether she’ll want you there, I can’t tell you. You decide that. I mean, she’s your wife.”

“Right.” As always the case with Azale, he wasn’t entirely sure whether or not she was kidding.“I’ll go, then.”

Sinara stood at the far end of the throne room, a faraway look in her eyes, not reacting when Kasius walked over to her. He leaned against the column next to her.“How are you holding up?”

“There’s a chance I’ll have to compete with some of my friends,”Sinara told him, still staring across the throne room unseeingly.“Well, more than a chance. The factions mostly pick among their younger members, and I have friends in all factions. Azale would turn them down if they asked her. I’m not so sure Darillion would.”

Kasius took her hand without a word. It was all the comfort he could offer her. She dropped her head onto his shoulder and they stood there together, not speaking, until Ta-Nhi stepped into the room.“We’re ready for you, Your Excellency.”

“I’ll be right there,”Sinara said. She turned to Kasius, a smile on her face that was so forced it was more of a grimace.“This is it then. Not long until you’re either king consort or a widower.”

He cupped her face in his hands, kissing her soft and slow and as long as he dared. His smile was as brittle as hers when they parted.“Go make me a king.”

She laughed; it did not sound entirely hollow.


	19. Chapter 19

Sinara walked towards the venue of the ceremony, removing the belt along with the trail attached to it and setting it down before entering the arena. She'd watched her father do the same, all those years ago. Somehow, she had been more frightend then than she was now. She took her position in the middle of the venue were she was to wait, facing the council. They were seated on the dais, the factions to either side of them.

Sinara breathed a sigh of relief as she saw both Azale and Darillion among their respective people. The chosen champions would be outside at that moment. Either they hadn’t been called upon or had chosen not to challenge her on their factions’ behalf.

Her friends had faith in her, at the very least. Having them in the arena with her would have been a horror she couldn't even fathom, hadn't allowed herself to fathom these past few days. They had learned to fight together in this place, when they'd been wet behind the ears and the arena had been the only battlefield they knew; now she would leave it again as a queen or as a corpse.

She pushed that thought away at the sound of the gong signalling the others' arrival.

Ta-Nhi entered with the challengers behind her.

Together with Sinara they formed a circle facing one another; she noted that there were only twenty-two people, counting herself. That meant two factions had decided not to send a fighter of their own, in a way throwing their lot in with her instead. A quick scan of the faces around her told her both the Learridge and the Thorne factions had abstained.

Darillion’s cousin Naeron gave her a curt nod across the circle. She nodded back at her. They had never grown particularly close; Sinara hoped someone else would kill Naeron before she had to do it herself nonetheless.

Ta-Nhi addressed the council first.“You who have sworn to protect our monarch, to guide them and counsel them, to fight for them as they fight for our people. Have you any reason to believe one of these chosen would not be fit for rule?”

“We do not,”council speaker Naalin replied.

“Then do you swear to accept the one that shall be chosen here today as monarch, until their death?”

“I swear it by my honour,”they all intoned as one.“I swear it by the moon, by the sword, by the blood in my veins.”

Now Ta-Nhi beckoned towards the leaders of the faction and all twenty-four of them stepped forward. Technically Sinara would be leader of the Blackstocks, if she survived the night, but for this her uncle was their representative.

“You have sent who you think would serve the realm the most,”Ta-Nhi said.“Do you vow to accept that the best will be chosen through merit in battle?”

They too spoke in almost eerie unison.“I shall accept the choice of fate. I swear it by my honour. I swear it by the moon, by the sword, by the blood in my veins.”

With a nod, Ta-Nhi turned away from them as well, marching into the middle of the circle. As tradition demanded, she stood facing Sinara, the one defending her faction’s claim. Yet when the overseer of ceremonies spoke, she spoke to all of them.“You have gathered to bring into the crown the one best suited to protect our people. Do you swear to fight with honour, so the crown will sit on an honourable head?”

“I swear it by my honour,”Sinara said, and twenty-one voices spoke with her,“I swear it by the moon, by the sword, by the blood in my veins.”

Now Ta-Nhi stepped up to Sinara, taking a flask of ointment in hand.“Should you win, will you serve your people? Will you put them above all else?”

“On my honour, I will,”Sinara replied. She was relieved her voice did not shake as she spoke, and horrified just how close she'd gotten to that. A battle-hardend warrior, and now her heart was in her throat with less than two dozen enemies. Except they weren't enemies. She swallowed hard."For my people, I shall live and die."

Ta-Nhi dipped her thumb into the purple paste and brushed a streak of it across her forehead.“Your ancestors are with you.”

She moved to the person to Sinara’s left, repeating the procedure, doing it for every single one of the challengers. Once she had completed the circle, she joined the council on their dais.

“By the moon, by the sword, by the blood in my veins,”she said, voice carrying across the otherwise completely silent arena,“I see none unworthy before me. The fates shall decide, and decide they will. Begin.”

It was such a simple word, Sinara thought as she unsheathed her blade. Begin. What a tame way of declaring the end of twenty-one lives.

 

There was something disorianting to being all alone. Sinara had been in many battles before, not once had she found herself without a single ally.

But in the ceremony there could be no allies. Only one of them could survive, after all.

She kept her mind as blank as she could, saw weapons and movements and bodies, tried not to see faces, tried not to hear voices.

A gasp for air that would never come sounded nothing like a gasp for air when laughing too hard, no matter that it came from the same person.

Her blade had lodged between his ribs wrong; it took her a moment to jank it free again.

A moment too long.

Something slammed into the back of her knees with enough force to knock her down, her grip on her scimitar loosening just enough that the boot hitting her wrist had her weapon toppling from her hand.

She dropped completely to the ground just in time for the blade to slice into thin air above her; a swift kick brought her opponent down as well.

And then Rhin had her pinned to the ground, both of them struggling for control over his weapon, Sinara’s own out of arm’s reach. A memory flashed through her head as his free hand closed around her throat, a day by the lake when they had been children, throwing mud at each other and playing at war. Her nails raked uselessly across his face. She had never bested him in a match of brute force.

His fingers were cutting off the air; she drew her leg up as far as she could between their bodies. There was something like pity in his eyes, something like regret. The black dots dancing at the edges of her vision made it hard to say.

She didn’t have enough room to strike her knee into his abdomen with near enough force to matter. She did have enough room to reach the holster on her thigh.

The dagger cut through his flesh as easily as through butter.

She pushed Rhin’s body off of herself, lying there for a moment, drawing in shaking breaths as the voices of the crowd around her made it back into her conscious mind.

“Queen Sinara,”she heard them calling, and “Long live the queen.”

She made herself get to her feet, covered in blood and dust, raising a hand in the customary salute to the fallen before she left the arena.

Kasius was waiting by its edge, clearly unsure what was expected of him.

“It’s good steel,”she told him, wiping the dagger clean on her sleeve. A little more blood hardly mattered.“Thank you.”

“You kept the dagger.”

He sounded so surprised she almost started laughing - or perhaps crying. It was oddly hard to tell.

But then Darillion’s hand was on her elbow, urging her forward.“The medic’s waiting.”


	20. Chapter 20

The medic had refused to let anyone besides Sinara into the sickbay. She could have ordered otherwise, of course, but she couldn’t even say whether the decision annoyed her or was welcome, so she had just accepted it. She hadn’t had a moment just to herself in too long, a moment where she could process; being alone finally was a relief in many ways, even if having her wounds stitched up hardly counted as relaxing alone time. Yet she also could have used a distraction from her mind replaying the events of the ceremony over and over.

She settled for watching the needle and thread, focussing on the twinge of it pulling together her skin again. It wouldn't scar too badly, she could tell already. She had enough experience with wounds to have an eye for such things. That was something, at least. She did not mind her scars but she didn't need one to remind her of this. She tried to recall who'd dealt her the wound. Tanai, maybe.

She pushed the thought away again. Who had killed whom in the ceremony was not something that was ever brought up, and that was for the better. After all, it was not done with ill will.

“I’d advise a light sedative, Your Eminence,”the medic told her when he was finished with her injuries.“Sleep is the best thing for healing.”

Sinara was about to deny the medic when the use of the new honorific hit her. Your Eminence. She was queen now. Because her father was dead, and she would never again speak to him, never again hear him laugh, would never again be able to ask his advice.

She closed her eyes against the sudden sting of tears and nodded.“Give me the sedative.”

* * *

Sinara hadn’t expected Kasius’ face to be the first thing she saw when she woke up, but that was what happened. He was perched at the very edge of a chair he had pulled as close as possible to her hospital bed. He looked as distraught as if he'd been waiting for her to wake for days when it couldn't have been more than a few hours.

Yet the moment she opened her eyes, he heaved an audible sigh of relief, lifting her hand to his lips to brush a kiss against her bruised knuckles before settling their intertwined hands back down on the sheet covering her.

His voice cracked as he spoke.“I thought I was going to lose you.”

“You needn’t have worried,”she said, sitting up slowly, glancing down at her hand in his in slight bewilderment. They'd formed a habit of casual touches lately; this felt everything but casual.“You have your title now. King consort.”

“I don’t care about that,”Kasius replied, grip on her hand tightening.“The thought of you dying - seeing you almost die -” He broke off and took a shuddering breath, his eyes shining slightly as he met her gaze.“Sinara, I love you.”

She was frozen with confusion for a moment, half expecting him to laugh and take back the words as the joke they had been, that they must have been.

But he did no such thing, and the look on his face didn’t make it seem like a jest either.

“I love you,”he repeated, with utter sincerity. He quite clearly didn’t say it to get a reply, he said it just so she’d know.

Sinara was too stunned to even begin to think about a response to that, her hand moving to cup his cheek out of its own accord.

“Kasius,”she said, hardly recognising her own voice, and then kissed him when all words failed her.

There was an _I love you, too_ in the movement of her lips against his, in the way she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer, closer, closer.

“You’re injured,”he finally protested, though he had pulled back barely an inch, his breath hot against her skin, his arm propped up next to her to keep his weight off her body.

“I don’t care.” Sinara kissed him again.“I want you.” Another kiss.“I need you.”

It was as close as she could get to echoing his words.

She thought he understood that, by the way he returned her kisses with a tenderness she had never allowed him before.

* * *

Laying there, her head bedded on his chest, the gentle rise and fall of his breathing lulling her almost to sleep, Sinara had to admit that Kasius might have had a point about the whole cuddling thing all along.

“I think your stitches came undone,”he remarked mildly, fingers lazily brushing through her hair.

She touched her side and found it damp with blood again.“You’re right. And I think I got some blood on you, too.”

“I’ll fetch a medic.” He touched her shoulder lightly, indicating for her to move so he could get up and do as he’d said.

“No,”Sinara said simply. She had absolutely no intention of letting him go anywhere.“It’s not that bad. I just want to lay here for a moment longer.”

She could have sworn she actually felt his heart miss a beat, but he showed no surprise otherwise.

“Alright.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and continued to play with her hair.“You’ll tell me if you need anything, won’t you, my darling?”

“I need you to stop worrying,”she said, drawing patterns across his skin absently, allowing her eyes to fall shut.“I need you just to be here with me.”

She didn’t have to see his face to know his smile was radiant.“There’s no place I’d rather be.”


	21. Chapter 21

The day of her official coronation arrived not long after, on the thirteenth day since her father’s death, the way tradition decreed. It was thought in bad taste to crown a new ruler while the old’s soul still lingered; it took twelve days for your spirit to let go and move to the world beyond, the elders said.

Whether she believed a single word of that, Sinara couldn’t even say. But whatever the reason, she herself finally felt ready to accept that she had to let go.

At the first light of dawn she headed to the graveyard, Kasius at her side. He hesitated at the entrance, but she tugged him on without a word. He’d seen her go into near hysterics the night after the ceremony when the reality of it all had finally settled down on her, and held her when she’d eventually cried herself to sleep. After that, she didn’t have any qualms left about bringing him to say goodbye to her father.

Never a woman of many words, Sinara stepped up to her father’s stone likeness, bringing up a hand to touch the smooth, cool cheek of the statue.

“I miss you,”she told the face that looked so right, yet so wrong without the familiar sparkle in his eyes,“I miss you so much. But I’ll do my best. I won’t disappoint you, I promise I won’t.”

And she drew back again, feeling the weight shift of her shoulders. Her best was all she could offer, and all her father had ever expected.

“He’d be proud of you,”Kasius said earnestly.“And so am I, for that matter.” And then, without even hesitating,“I love you, Nara.”

She was as lost for words as she had been the first time he’d said it. So again, she simply kissed him in response.

He did not push for a reply, just smiling at her as she pulled back again. She returned the smile.“We should head back. I think I’m ready now.”

And she was. She was ready to step before the council and the representatives of her people to swear to serve them and their needs as well as she could manage, and she was ready to fulfill that promise as long as she would live.

 

She was giving herself a last once over in the mirror when Kasius stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“You look so beautiful,”he told her, nuzzling his nose against her cheek.

She chuckled, breaking his embrace by turning around to face him.“Not such a barbarian after all, then?”

“Well, maybe you’re a bit of a barbarian,”he conceded, an amused twinkle in his eyes.“But you’re a very beautiful barbarian.”

She wondered just when his smile had become her favourite sight in the world, when his cheesy jokes had started to make her want to kiss him senseless, when spending the rest of her life with him had gone from a political necessity to something that made her heart feel ready to burst with joy.

“Kasius,”she started, reaching out to take his hands. The words wouldn’t come out; she swallowed hard and tried again. She didn’t understand how he could say it so easily. But she wanted him to know. She needed him to know. She made herself hold his gaze, and the words were easier that way.“Kasius, I l-”

She was cut off by the door slamming open, Azale standing there with a wild look in her eyes.“We found him, Sin. We found the assassin who killed your father.”

Sinara surged towards her friend.“Who is it? Where are you keeping them? Bring me there right now.”

“And me.” Kasius was back at her side in an instant, his hand resting on her lower back comfortingly.

“No,”Azale said, forcefully and brooking now dissent.“Only Sinara should come. Darillion will wait here with you.”

Kasius and Sinara exchange confused looks, but Azale ushered Sinara out of the room before anyone could ask any questions of her, exchanging a curt nod with Darillion who moved past her into the room, closing the heavy door behind himself.

“What’s going on?”Sinara demanded, following Azale down the corridor nonetheless.“Why couldn’t Kasius come with us?”

The look on Azale’s face was unreadable, something Sinara had thought impossible after more than twenty years of friendship.“You’ll see soon enough. Just trust me for now, Sin. Please.”

“I do. Of course I do,”Sinara said, hastening her pace. Whatever had Azale acting so strangely, it did not bode well.

 

Azale took her to the cell in which they held the man that had killed her father. Sinara stopped dead in her tracks when she saw his face.

“You,”she said. It was the man that had broken into their chambers back on Orid; though she had seen him only briefly, she was sure of that.

He looked back at her with utterly impassive countenance, head tilted slightly.“Me.”

“You know him?”Azale asked, frown etched onto her face, looking from the prisoner to Sinara.

“That would be saying a little too much.” She stepped closer to the cell.“He wanted to kill me on Orid. Or us, I should say. It appears his plans have changed.”

Azale gave a non-committal hum in reply, then gestured to the prisoner.“Tell the queen what you told me.”

His smirk was almost insufferable.“About how the prince hired me, you mean?”

“Faulnak hired you?” His brazenness in admitting so surprised Sinara far more than the revelation itself. In her mental list of possible suspects, the Halan crown prince had rated high above anyone from Nux, and just below the Oridians.

The murderer laughed at her question, and shook his head.“Not that prince.”


	22. Chapter 22

"Not that prince."

The words echoed in her head, washed over her like a bucket of ice water, leaving her just as dazed.

Once she managed to form a mostly coherent thought again, she turned to Azale, who was watching her with concern in her eyes.

“Bring Kasius here." She was glad her voice came out mostly normal; her nails were digging into her palms hard enough to leave bloody crescents."Tell him nothing. I want to see how he reacts to this. Take your time. I’ll question this one in the meantime.”

A lie. It had to be a lie, she told herself.

But it could be true just as easily.

* * *

“Are you ready for him?”Azale asked, stepping into the room.

Even if she had had a few hours to mentally prepare, she didn't think she would be ready for this. But she could hardly say that.

When Sinara nodded, Azale waved Darillion and Kasius in to join them. He still looked rather bewildered.“Nara, what’s going on? Where is the assassin?”

“Over here.” Sinara grabbed him by the elbow, pulling him towards the cell rather unkindly.“Take a look at him.”

“Maston?” Kasius’ voice dripped pure confusion. He turned back to Sinara.“What is he doing here? Is he really the one who murdered your father?”

“So you admit you know him?”

He did not catch the accusation in her voice, it seemed, answering as calm as if he truly were only bemused by the other man’s appearance.“He used to be my brother’s guard. He was exiled a few years ago.”

“What for?”

“He killed someone. Well, he allegedly killed someone, and he did confess, but it never really sat well with me. He murdered a rather influential member of a faction my brother had been having some disagreements with at the time, actually. He should have been executed by rights yet he was only banished.” He scowled at Maston for a moment.“I always found that odd. I thought that perhaps it was all my brother’s doing.”

“A little more detail than Maston here was willing to give,”Sinara said.”But your stories match.”

It was then that Kasius caught on to something being amiss.“Our stories match? Darling, surely you can’t mean to imply-”

“You must admit that this is an odd chain of events,”she interrupted, trying to keep her voice as cold as her heart felt.

“I - well, yes.” He frowned at her.“But that doesn’t mean - Sinara, please. You cannot possibly actually think that. Maybe Faulnak is behind this, or Eurielle. He must have stowed away on Orid after all.”

“Or it’s all been a set-up from the get-go,”Sinara said. The thought made her sick to her stomach, made her chest hurt as if she’d been stabbed.“Every last bit of it. The peace deal, the marriage, us being sent to Orid.” She swallowed hard.“You saying -”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish the thought. Kasius understood anyway, hurt flashing across his face.“You don’t mean that. I’ve never lied to you. I really do lo-”

Sinara cut him off with a gesture and turned to Azale and Darillion instead.“Leave us.”

“Are you sure?”Darillion asked at the same time as Azale said,“You can’t be serious. He’s one of them. You can’t trust him.”

“Maybe so.” Sinara’s gaze was firmly fixed on Kasius now.“But he is my husband. At least for now. There is no harm in letting him speak.”

“But -”

Her eyes were still on Kasius when she said,“And should he try to attack me, do you really think I couldn’t kill him before he even touched me?”

Azale nodded, finally following the order, throwing a look over her shoulder in the doorway.“We’ll be right outside, Sin.”

“I love you,”Kasius reaffirmed the moment the door had clicked shut behind the others. There was utter desperation in his voice, hand already half in the air before he realised reaching for her was a bad idea.“If you truly believe I had a hand in your father’s death, if you truly believe I’m lying, you might as well have me executed.”

“I said I’d let you talk, not grovel.” She wanted to believe him, she realised, and that was dangerous. It was foolish.“So talk. Tell me what you think really happened.”

“May I have a moment to make sense of it myself?” Kasius had started pacing, hands coming up to massage his temples.“It must be Faulnak’s doing. Maston’s presence would be too much of a coincident otherwise. And perhaps he’s in league with Tyan? He was the one to give us the sleeping draught.”

“Why blame you, then?”

“Why blame me if it were true?”he countered, stopping his pacing and facing her.“Why have my cat’s paw admit to being just that? There would be no gain in that. Speaking of gains, what would my motive even be?” He held up a hand to stop her from speaking.“Don’t say becoming king consort. Then why the attempt on you on Orid?”

“So you could cite him wanting to kill us both in your defense. So I would not suspect you of this.”

“Sinara, listen to yourself. Even if you actually, truly believe that I could be capable of doing this to you, of claiming to love you if I did not - do you accuse me of stupidity too? Because if I had wished to have your father murdered, I surely could have found a way to have it done without placing the assassin on my ship and myself firmly under suspicion.”

She hesitated.“That is true, isn’t it? It would be an utterly idiotic way of going about things. Our harbours weren’t closed to trade. Any ship could have brought an assassin in.”

“And as you know, Maston didn’t enter among our guard, the only halfway sensible advantage I could even fathom to bringing the murderer with me personally.”

Sinara frowned, but the knot in her chest was loosening.“Well, once you put it like that it really does make no sense.”

“That’s because it’s not true.” He reached out, not quite touching her hand.“I love you, Nara. I swear it by my mother’s soul.”

She closed the gap between them and took his proffered hand.“I love you, too.”


	23. Chapter 23

“I am awfully sorry I missed your coronation,”Faulnak said the moment he had stepped off his ship and walked over to them, not wasting any time on something as plebeian as greetings.“It seems Orid has completely given up hopes of peace talks. They attacked us on our way. We shot them down easily enough, of course, but they did take out our communications system and delay us for a while.”

“Not to worry, you didn’t miss it,”Sinara gave back, forcing herself to let her face remain a polite mask.“We had to postpone it. My father’s murderer has been found and that needed my attention first.”

“You found the kingslayer?” The surprise on Faulnak’s face was genuine, as far as she could tell. His smile was decidedly not.“How marvelous. Who was it, then? Some agent of Eurielle?”

“Someone you are quite familiar with, brother. You surely remember Maston-Dar?”

“Yes, I do. A cowardly killer. How did he end up on Nux?”

“He was on Orid first.” Kasius glanced at Sinara and she nodded.“We haven’t gotten all too much out of him. And I’m sorry, but we must return to question him now." He made to walk away, then stopped as if something had just occurred to him."Perhaps you would like to come with us?”

“I’ll do you one better.” Faulnak’s confidence had returned with a vengeance; he clearly thought himself and his scheme safe from discovery.“I will interrogate him myself. I shall get you all the answers you need.”

“If you insist,”Sinara said, not surprised at Faulnak’s offer. Kasius had predicted as much.“I’ll take you right to him.”

 

“Good luck, brother,”Kasius said, clapping Faulnak on the shoulder to the older brother’s obvious irritation.

He scowled.“I don’t need luck, I know what I’m doing.”

Then he headed to the prisoner without another word.

“Did I stick properly?”Sinara asked once Faulnak had disappeared into Maston’s cell, she and Kasius taking up their spot by the observation window set into the side of the cell. It was two-way glass; they could see without being seen.

“It should have, yes.” He set the speakers to the correct frequency.“We’ll see shortly.”

“Faulnak?”Maston gasped as the crown prince entered.

It was all he got out before Faulnak had him by the throat, pulling him towards him until their faces were mere inches apart.

“You miserable wretch. How did you allow yourself to be caught alive?”Faulnak’s voice was a whisper so low they would not have heard it, had it not been for the small microphone on his shoulder.

“He really is stupid, isn’t he?” Kasius pinched the bridge of his nose, looking almost embarrassed.“Talking about his little plot right here in front of us. It doesn’t even occur to him he might be bugged.”

Sinara shrugged.“I think it’s unbelievable arrogance rather than stupidity. I also think that might be worse.”

“Please,”Maston gasped, prying at Faulnak’s fingers desperately.“I told her it was Kasius who hired me.”

“Another idiotic misstep.” Faulnak released his cat’s paw so abruptly he dropped to the ground, panting for breath. As he continued, the prince spoke loud enough now that they would have heard him either way.“How dare you blame my brother? Tell me true, traitor. Have some honour for once. Was it Eurielle that sent you? Was it Tyan? Have the factions of Nux plotted against their rightful rulers?”

“He thinks we work like Hala,”Sinara said, unimpressed with Faulnak’s theatrics. Her people were not in the habit of scheming for the love of power. The mere suggestion was insulting.

“Of course he does,”Kasius replied.“He’s never touched a book in his life, least of all one on foreign kingdoms. If it’s not his to rule, he does not care.”

“Tyan,”Maston tried, eyes wild as he hoped to find the right answer. With his back to them, they could not see Faulnak’s face, but it appeared he looked pleased, as Maston continued,“I was supposed to kill them on Orid. He would have blamed his aunt and surrendered her to Hala and Nux for execution, then he’d have taken Orid for himself. But they found me out so the plan got changed.”

“And you stowed away on my brother’s ship to kill King Kel-Ra, igniting war once again between my people and Nux?”

“Yes! Tyan wished to use the uproar to bring Orid to more power.”

“How would that have ignited war if Maston hadn’t been caught and named you as his employer?” Sinara sighed, lightly leaning against Kasius.“Your brother must think we are astoundingly naive if he thinks we would really believe any of this.”

“He lacks fantasy.” He sniffed derisively.“General Krenyk always said his battle tactics were uninspired. It would seem the same applies to his plotting.”


	24. Chapter 24

Faulnak stepped back out of the cell, trying and failing to contain a smug grin.“Well, there you have it. The Oridians sent this exiled traitor to do their dirty work.”

“Or did he do yours, the same way he did back on Hala, when he was exiled for Ryles’ death?”Kasius asked, tilting his head as if contemplating a painting of only passing interest.

“You mean to accuse me of planning regicide?”Faulnak blustered. His eyes were narrowed, annoyance clear on his face.“Why, I could make the same accusation of you. Aren’t you the one with a kingly title now, little brother?”

“And you’re the one with ties to Maston,”Sinara put in.“Why would Tyan have hired him, if he could have poisoned our food far more easily? Why would he then wait to arrive on Nux and kill my father rather than killing us on the ship?”

Faulank scoffed.“What do I know of his plans?”

Sinara smiled, cold and sharp.“That is the question, Faulnak. What do you know of Maston’s plans? How much of them were yours?”

Faulnak’s expression became hard and impassive all of a sudden, then he barked out a laugh devoid of all humour.“Yes, it was my plan. And who can blame me? What did you expect of me? To wait and watch as my father squandered away my empire piece by piece with his little peace deals? As he negotiated with filth instead of crushing them under heel like the bugs they are?”

He started pacing as he rambled.“These planets are all mine by rights. All resistance needs to be squashed, not entertained with truces. I could not watch him tear everything to pieces, give away more and more of my kingdom rather than regaining what our forefathers have so pitifully lost. The two of you dying on Orid would have put a stop to it all, and it would only have cost me Tyan taking the title of imperator. But you getting Maston back to Hala was even better. Another faction may have taken power on Nux, one that I could have bend to my wishes.”

“So you admit to having my father murdered,”Sinara said, voice calm as could be, stepping forward to face him. She was already picturing her blade slicing into his flesh, but she needed more information first, needed to know if anyone else was involved in this. And they would have to give him at least a perfunctory trial.“Tell me why I shouldn’t execute you on the spot.”

“Come now, Sinara, be reasonable.“ Faulnak stopped pacing and moved closer, smiling.“We all want to rid ourselves of someone or other. Tyan has his aunt, I have my lists, and surely so do you. A trade deal isn’t what I want for my empire and it is too soon for my father’s demise, I simply had to put a stop to this all.” He stepped even closer, his smile bordering on deranged now. “I had my plans but I can rethink things. We could join Nux and Hala together properly. Mala could easily have an unfortunate accident.” He jerked his head towards Kasius dismissively. “And so could he.” Another step closer. She didn’t back away. “You’re a queen now. I have no problem with my brother’s leavings when it gets me a queen.”

Sinara turned her face away to keep it from getting sprayed with blood. The right side of her face was splattered nonetheless. She wondered whether Faulnak had seen it coming, too.

Probably not, by the wild, confused look in his eyes as he stumbled and fell, hands uselessly pressed onto the gash in his throat, blood streaming between his fingers.

“Sinara is not some object to be taken,”Kasius spat, the knife still clutched in his hand, taken from the holster on his brother’s own hip.

“Thank you, darling,”Sinara said mildly, stepping over Faulnak who was still desperately trying to draw in air, a disgusting, rattling sound all he managed. She pressed a kiss to Kasius’ cheek, gently prying the knife from his shaking hand.“May I?”

He only nodded, watching his dying brother with mild interest and slight perturbation.

Killing for the first time was a strange thing, but he seemed to handle it well enough. Sinara wondered if he, too, found it far easier than one would imagine. But that was a question for another time. She had a mess to clean up.

She walked to Maston’s cell, opening the door.

He took a hasty step back, glancing past her to Faulnak and back again, wide-eyed and confused.

She flipped over the knife, the blade slick with blood between her fingers, and offered it to Maston handel first.

He reached out and took it almost automatically.“What are you -”

He didn’t make it any further before her own blade was buried to the hilt in his chest. He was too shocked to even make a sound.

“That’s for my father,”Sinara said. Then she twisted the knife, an unnecessary cruelty.“And that’s for me.”

She wrenched her dagger free again, paying the collapsing Maston no further mind as she left the cell again. She wiped his blood off on her sleeve with the hint of a smile; the dagger really fit her hand as if it had been made for her alone.

“He’s taking his sweet time, isn’t he?” She nodded at Faulnak, still trying to stem the bleeding.

Kasius was crouched down next to him, just far enough that the spreading pool of blood didn’t touch him.“He’s always been a pest so I’m not surprised.” He smiled up at Sinara.“What a pity you didn’t get to Maston before he attacked Faulnak.”

Of course he’d understood what she was doing. If only his fool of a brother had half his brains, he wouldn’t be choking on the floor like badly butchered livestock.

“Yes, quite. If he hadn’t insisted on questioning him himself, he might still be alive.” She prodded Faulnak’s leg with her boot and got no reaction. He’d finally slipped into unconsciousness.“It’s all very sad. My condolences, dear.”

“Thank you. What a terrible loss.” He crossed over to her, taking her into his arms and kissing her. When he pulled away, he was grinning.“I’ll get over it eventually.”


	25. Chapter 25

They had sent Faulnak’s body ahead so the proper rituals could be performed on Hala, saving them a few days of waiting around there before things were ready for the burning. Officially they had done so because Sinara still needed to be crowned. And there was some truth in that. The crowning ceremony had been postponed long enough.

The ceremony itself did not take up much time, however, a simple exchange of vows between the new queen and the leaders of the factions swearing their fealty, followed by the official appointment of her grand vizier who would represent her in council when she was unavailable herself.

Azale fiddled with her lapel the whole way to the throne room, fingers pressing against the empty spot that would soon bare the insignia again and again.

“Careful, Lady Learridge, or I might start thinking you’re nervous,”Sinara teased.

Azale shot her a glare, but Kasius beat her to responding.“Look who’s talking. Like you haven’t been chewing on your lip enough to nearly take all your lipstick off.” He lightly touched his thumb against her lip, smoothing out the remaining colour.“But you needn’t worry. You’ll both do great.”

With that, he brushed a kiss onto her cheek, smiled at Aza, and went ahead into the throne room with Darillion, leaving the women to wait to be called in by the overseer of ceremonies.

Azale chuckled as she watched them go.“You know, he’s really not so bad. For a Halan.”

“I could’ve done worse,”Sinara returned mildly, fully aware Aza knew her well enough to take that for the profession of love it did not sound like. She was right to do so.

And standing on that dais, where she had seen her father swear those same vows years and years ago, where her grandmother had once sworn them too, she was glad to have her husband there, too, eyes so full of warmth when he met her gaze.

By her side through all hardships, just as he had promised, back when neither of them could have known they would ever mean those vows.

Sinara kneeled for Ta-Nhi to set the crown on her head, then rose again as Queen Sinara of House Blackstock, the first of her name.

* * *

“Are you really sure it’s alright for you to leave Nux so soon?”Kasius asked that night, rolling over onto his side so he could look at her properly. Their ship was scheduled to depart the next morning.

“Of course I’m sure,”Sinara replied with an exaggerated eye roll.“It’s not like it’s Hala, where there’s five coups and seventeen different plots as soon as the king so much as glances away from the factions for more than a second.”

“You know,”he said,“I’d be offended if you weren’t entirely right.”

Sinara chuckled.“Be that as it may, it’s not exactly as if I could just skip your brother’s funeral, no matter any other circumstances. Or would you rather I didn’t attend?”

He cocked his head to the side, taking her hand in his.“Why in the world would I ever want you to be anywhere else but at my side, wife?”

“Well, you’ll be king in your own right one day now,”she teased.“So you don’t need your little barbarian princess anymore, do you?”

“Barbarian queen,”he corrected with a wink.“And may I remind you that there’s no way out of this marriage? I seem to remember a certain someone absolutely insisting on consummating it right away.” He kissed her hand before trailing up along her arm, pulling her closer.“But there’s no harm in making sure. Twice is better than once, after all.”

She laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck.“Oh, husband, we are so far past twice.”

* * *

They arrived back on Hala the same day as the delegation that brought Tyan to be sentenced for conspiring against both Hala and Nux, leading to the murders of King Kel-Ra and Prince Faulnak. The Imperator Eurielle had been quick to distance herself from her nephew and his actions, giving him over willingly, the implication that negotiations of a trade deal would begin again after Faulnak’s funeral enough to satisfy her.

Tyan was to be brought to justice before Faulnak’s remains were laid to rest. Unsurprisingly, the trial could hardly be called such. All three kingdoms wanted the matter swiftly dealt with; it was all over from beginning to execution in less than an hour.

“At least he died well,”Sinara remarked after. She had half expected him to beg for his life.

Kasius leaned in close, his lips almost touching her ear.“That’s more than can be said about Faulnak.”

She stifled a laugh at that, forcing herself to keep a sombre expression. It would not do for her to let her amusement show. They were on their way to Faulnak’s funeral, after all.

 

Kasius returned to Sinara’s side after giving his brother’s eulogy; as the new heir apparent it was now him who was called upon for these sort of things. Saying something pleasant about Faulnak had never been easier.

With the funeral feast beginning, attention was finally no longer on them.

“So, tell me,”Clio said, looking from Kasius to Sinara,“how are you going to rule two kingdoms at the same time one day?”

Kasius looked to his wife who simply shrugged and said,“I suppose we will just have to make it one kingdom instead.”

“A wonderful idea, darling,”he gave back.“The United Empire of Hala and Nux. It does have a nice ring to it, really.”

“The Confederacy of Nux and Hala, you mean, surely?”

“Anything you want, my love,”he returned with a smile.

Had either of them paid attention to anything besides one another, they might have noticed Clio discreetly leaving them to their own devices. As it was, they took no note.

Sinara intertwined her fingers with Kasius’, her smile as enamoured as his.“I already have everything I want, my love.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, lovelies!!


End file.
